Charges detail big drug case with 2 killings

Professional money launderer Chineta Glanville made a fatal mistake.

No sooner had she confided to a drug pal that she was cooperating with the feds than reputed drug kingpin Maurice Phillips allegedly hired a hit man - who would dress as a FedEx employee delivering a package - to silence her.

Phillips wanted to protect his $31 million cocaine-trafficking organization in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.

But instead of paying the promised $18,000 for the murder contract, according to federal prosecutors, Phillips gave the killer $16,000 and told him to go on a shopping spree at a clothes store he owned in Atlanta.

On June 25, 2002, the hit man fired two fatal shots into the head of Glanville, 50, who had ratted out others twice before, and killed her nephew and godson, Dane King, 29, the feds charge.

Yesterday, the murder plot, with the killer identified as "B.P.", was outlined in a 64-page indictment charging Phillips as a drug kingpin who operated a violent, multimillion-dollar Mid-Atlanticcocaine operation in tandem with Texas drug suppliers, headed by Ramon Alvear.

Eight co-defendants, including Alvear, also were charged in the drug network that operated from 1998 until yesterday.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan called the sophisticated drug organization "far-reaching and pervasive" - distributing "staggering" amounts of cocaine and "dirty money" into towns small and large, including Philadelphia.

The indictment laid out the following account:

Prior to Glanville's murder, Phillips and B.P. scouted out her Wyndmoor home in the tony suburb in Springfield Township, Montgomery County, just outside of Philadelphia.

The day before the killings, Phillips and B.P. visited an employee of a FedEx facility in New Jersey to get a gun, a FedEx uniform and an empty package for the hit man's disguise.

A year later, Phillips turned to B.P. to murder a rival New Jersey drug dealer. And after B.P. was jailed, Phillips gave $25,000 to a liaison to pay his legal bills.

FBI agent Kathy Downes and agent Frank Gromley, a recent retiree from the Internal Revenue Service, were tipped off to Phillips' drug gang operation in 2001.

But it took six years to untangle the complex, wide-ranging drug network, with help from IRS agent Scott McLeod, Joseph Minni of the U.S. attorney's forfeiture unit, and 18 law enforcement agencies in 10 states.

A federal raid on Glanville's Wyndmoor home shortly before she was killed produced boxes of documents with phony names and other evidence of laundering money for Phillips and other drug organizations.

"It took a while for us to figure it all out, said Assistant U.S. Attorney L.C. Wright, who worked with Howard Weiner, an assistant U.S. attorney in Camden.

Phillips "intentionally compartmentalized" his drug operations so that some workers didn't know what their cohorts were doing. But he made sure their legal fees were paid, if they were charged with crimes. If jailed, money was put on their prison commissary accounts.

Besides Glanville, Phillips used relatives and others to launder the drug proceeds.

Some drug deals occurred off Exits 3 and 4 of the New Jersey Turnpike, while others took place in front of the Marriott Hotel in Center City.

Phillips' workers used duffle bags to pack $1 million in cash to transport to Alvear's cocaine supply operation in Dallas, Texas, authorities said.

At one point, Phillips became romantically involved with his top lieutentant, Chanell Cunningham, 34, both of whom enjoyed lavish lifestyles, late-model cars and numerous homes.

Cunningham recruited drug traffickers and others to handle money laundering. But Phillips often stored the drug proceeds at other girlfriends' homes, according to the indictment.

Jayne Challman, FBI assistant agent in charge, said Phillips and Cunningham "valued material things more than life."

In April 2001, Phillips bought a new Mercedes-Benz CL 500 2-door coupe for more than $100,000 and had it adapted with compartments to hide cocaine and money, the indictment said.

A month later, Cunningham threw a $12,000 birthday party for him at the Time Hotel, in the heart of Manhattan's theater district, entertaining their employees and customers, three of whom became informants.

The duo also entertained drug customers, including an informant, in Miami Beach.

In February 2002, Phillips invited workers and customers to a $27,000 box suite at the National Basketball Association All-Star Game.

But recently, the Phillips-Cunningham relationship soured.

Cunningham fell for another drug dealer, Deandre "Bunchie" King, who was released from federal prison after a 10-year drug sentence, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

Last year, she and King returned from a cruise and found Phillips staying in her home in Newark, Del., one of three homes in her name.

About 2 a.m. on Aug. 14, 2006, gunmen burst into Cunningham's home and shot several times at Phillips, who jumped out the second-floor bedroom window and escaped, according to published accounts. The incident is under investigation by New Castle County, Del. authorities.

Cunningham and King married last March 17.

The feds are now seeking, through forfeiture, $31 million in drug proceeds; at least 10 properties, six of which are valued at more than $800,000; $187,000 in two accounts; undisclosed sums in 13 other bank accounts and a 2004 Chrysler.

"We follow the money trail," said Internal Revenue Service spokesman Skip Bedics.

Phillips, 36, of Upper Marlboro, Md., was charged with murder of an informant and multiple counts of using interstate commerce to commit a murder for hire.

He and Cunningham, 34, of Philadelphia, were also charged with multiple counts of money-laundering.

They were also charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, as was Mark Harris, 42, of Washington, D.C.; Alvear, 34, of Texas; David Garcia, 33, of Kansas; Theophus Orr, 58, of DeSoto, Texas; Mark Camacho, 40, of Trappe, Md.; and Tyrece Lawrence, 32, of Philadelphia.

Last night, all but Orr were being held in custody at the Federal Detention Center. Bail hearings are set for Tuesday. *