IBO - Brian R. Lundin (100 books to read in a lifetime .txt) 📗

in the Federal Correctional Center.”
“Are you a member of any gang?”
“Yes, I was a Street Coordinator for the State Street Boys.”
“Tell the judge and jury what are the duties of a Street Coordinator.”
“A street coordinator is responsible for his drug dealers and maintaining and enforcing gang discipline within their assigned territory.”
“Whom did you report to?”
“My governor, Charles Conway.”
“Is your governor in the courtroom?”
“ Yes sir,” Billy Edwards replied, pointing to Charles Conway.
“Did you enter into a plea agreement with the government?”
“Yes sir.”
“What was that agreement?”
“That first I would plead guilty to the charge of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, then I would cooperate with the government in their investigation of the case and if necessary to testify truthfully in court.”
“What did the government offer you?”
“Nothing, I was told if I abided by the agreement they would request from the judge a downward departure from the sentencing guidelines.”
“So your fate rests in whose hands, the government or the judge?” Boni asked.
“The judge.”
“At this time your honor, the government would request permission to play audiotapes exhibits 1a, 2a, and 3a.which is also marked as evidence.”
The audiotapes were a collection of conversations between Billy Edwards and the defendants Gates and Fairchild concerning distribution of heroin, cost territory and the passing of the money from Edwards to Gates or Fairchild.
“Will you explain to the jury how your operations worked?”
“Yes sir. I started working my spot at 8:00 am.”
“Your spot?” Boni asked.
“My corner.”
“Where was your spot?”
“My spot was right off Route 30 at Leesburg road and Kroemer Road the South Side of Fort Wayne, that’s where I was, but I had workers all over the South Side, mainly in the black communities.”
“How many workers did you have?”
“Maybe fifteen.”
“Please continue.”
“Well, like I said, I would be at my spot at 8:00 am where I would meet Gates or Fairchild or both and give them all the money or drugs left from the previous day. If I didn’t have any drugs left they would give me whatever I needed.”
“What would you estimate you and your crew were making a day?” between twenty and thirty a day.
“You mean twenty or thirty thousand dollars a day?”
“Yes sir.”
“Please continue.”
“We only sold fifty dollar bags, so each morning Fairchild or Gates would give me the goods and I would distribute them to my people, some got more than others depending on their business. I kept a ledger of what each one got and at the end of the night or when they sold out, the books had to balance.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, I want to make sure that the court thoroughly understands what you are talking about, Boni said.
“You would meet Conway in the morning and pay him for the drugs he had given you the day before, he would then give you more drugs for you to distribute to your people. At the end of the night your people paid you for the drugs you gave them and everything had to balance out, correct?”
“Correct.”
“What kind of drugs were you selling?”
“ Marijuana, heroin, but mainly crack cocaine.”
“Just so we all understand, Mr. Edwards explain to the jury how a drug spot operated.
“Selling drugs is harder than most people think. It is seven days a week hustle a twenty-four hour job. My spots were broken up into two twelve- hour shifts. The day shift started at 8:00am and the night shift started at 8:00pm. When we opened our operation in Fort Wayne we had to build a clientele. There were some small drug players on the scene but we soon moved them out.”
“What do you mean moved them out?” Boni asked.
“Like I said, these were small time players, young boys, we scared the shit out of them and they got out the game.”
“Please continue sir, Boni said.
“We got the word out that we were in business and had the best product in town at the best prices. We hawked exotic weed from Mexico or Jamaica Gunga. Getting an operation going is very boring and takes a lot a lot of time and energy to get it off the ground. There were times when you only sold a bag after three or four hours, the rest of the time you just standing around, doing nothing. A lot of times you had to give tasters, a free sample of the product to the potential customers. We had to find out the payday for the businesses in the area and “Mama’s Day,” that when the sisters in the area got their welfare checks. I had to be damn near an accountant. I had to keep track of the drugs I gave to my guys, how much money I was due, and supervising some of my young hardheads was a pain in the ass too. They would try to rip you off by faking that they had to ditch their goods to avoid a bust by undercover narcs and you always had to be on the alert for rip-offs, or robberies. Dope fiends and especially crack head are very dangerous. They will do anything for a hit, if it means taking a chance on sticking up the dope man or killing him, it is all the same to them. You have to be ruthless to be in the game or at lease act as if you are. You have to be prepared to seriously hurt or kill a friend or foe if it comes to that, but mainly you have to be on constant lookout for narcs. Although in a hick town like Fort Wayne the cops wasn’t a big problem, they didn’t know a lot about drugs or uncover operations like the feds or big city police like in Chicago did.
I have often heard people say that drug dealers are lazy and don’t want to work, well let me tell you’ll; there is no job more demanding than dealing drugs.”


“Explain to the judge and jury, the organizational structure of the State Street Boys,”
Boni assistant put up an organizational chart.
“As I point to name on the chart please explain their function and authority. At the top of the chart is the leader, please explain.”
“ There use to be a king, he started the gang a long time ago and his authority was absolute, his word was law. He is in prison for life but he still runs the gang with the help of a Board of Governors, which is composed of the major governors. No major decisions are made without his ok.”
“You said the leader is in jail for life, right.”
“Yes sir.”
“Why does the gang still follow his orders?”
“Well, it’s like this, the State Street Boys run the prisons in Illinois and Indiana and the members know they may go to jail at anytime, and if they do and is not in good standing with the gang they could have a very hard time in the joint.”
Boni points at the next name under the leader.
“Who is the Advisor and what are his duties,” Boni asked.
“He could be a lawyer or banker who advises the leader and Board of Governors in legal or financial matters.”
“Next?”
“The Supplier supplies the guns or drugs.”
“Next, the Candidate,” Boni continued.
“Most of the major gangs have a political arm and the gang may support political candidates or run their own candidate, usually for local elections, aldermen and things like that.”
“Next?”
“The Communication Officer is responsible for disseminating information and orders from the Board of Governors. He also keeps track of rival gang and police activities in their areas.”
“Tells us more about the Board of Governors.”
“There are ten High Governors on the Board of Governors and they really run the gang. They are appointed by and report directly to the leader, they are also the leader’s main advisors. They are usually long time gang members and they help the leader control the gang, with the leader they run the gang.”
“Next?”
“The Simbas are the gang enforcers, if the leader or Board of Governors decides on a gang war, the Warlord or the Head Simba is responsible for getting the weapons, deciding who are the shooters and the targets.”
“Next?”
“The Security Chief is responsible for disciplining members who have violated our rules, intimidating businessmen and independents into paying street taxes.”
“What do you mean street taxes?”
“If a person has a business on our turf they got to pay taxes to operate.”
“How much do they pay?”
“Depends on the business, big business, or little business, let say you got a tavern, it might be two hundred dollars a month or let’s say you got a big grocery store, it might be five hundred dollars a month,” especially if it an Arab store.”
“What happens if they don’t pay?”
“All the windows could get broken or the gang could intimidate their customers or employees.”
“What do you mean by independents?”
“Let’s say you run a chop shop, gambling joint, whorehouse, or a wine joint that is not run by the gang, you got to pay the street tax to operate.”
“Let’s continue,” Boni said.
“The Treasurer keeps track of all the gangs’ money, what banks the gang’s money is in and the gang’s investments and anything else that deals with the gang’s money.”
“Now how much money and property does the gang has.”
“The gang own buildings, restaurants, bars, a lot of stuff, I don’t know how much money the gang have, but it is a lot, millions maybe billions, I don’t know.”
“Next?”
“Area Leaders controls large areas of the city, says the West Side or the South Side. The Board assigns them to an area and the area is broken down into corners or turf that is controlled by a Regent. Some, areas are large some are only a few blocks. The Regents are responsible for maintaining discipline and enforcing gang rules. They also pay off the local police and supply the street coordinator.”
“Next?”
“Next, you got the Recruiters; they hang around schools, shopping malls, playground and places like that, trying to recruit new members.”
“Next?”
”The Soldiers are the drug dealers and sometimes are involved in gang fights, intimidation’s and drive-bye’s.”
“Next?”
“Next you got the Runners, they bring the drugs and guns and the Hawkers, who look out for the police. Most of these are shorties because if they get picked up by the police, by them being