Prosecutors Seek to Dismiss One Defendant from Drug Conspiracy Indictment

BIRMINGHAM—The U.S. Attorney’s Office has asked a federal judge to dismiss one of 10 defendants from a drug trafficking conspiracy indictment returned in April and unsealed in May following the arrests of all the defendants, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.

Prosecutors this week filed the motion in U.S. District Court to dismiss Dealdre R. “Twin” Murrell, 27, of Birmingham, from the April 25 indictment. The move was prompted by information the government received and confirmed this week, according to the motion.

Dealdre’s twin brother, Deandre “Laray” or “Tojo” Murrell, also of Birmingham, remains under indictment in the case, along with eight other defendants: Billy “Champ” Williams Jr., 40, of Midfield; Sammuel Dewayne “Rosé” Gulley, 28, of Fairfield; Walter “Walt T” Johnson, 47; and Wilbert Curtis “Bing” Dalton Jr., 41, both of Dolomite; Grady Isam “Shady Grady” Jenkins, 46; Abe “Cuz” Johnson, 49; and Marion “Tuna” Reynolds Jr., 52, all of Birmingham; and Vernon Llwellyn “RJ” Mcadory, 38, of Bessemer.

The government is seeking to dismiss Dealdre Murrell from the four charges that he faced: conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine and three counts of using a telephone to facilitate drug trafficking.

The indictment charges that Williams and his co-defendants ran a large-scale heroin and cocaine distribution network in western Birmingham and Jefferson County. The investigation by the FBI, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office began in 2011 and culminated with the January arrest of Gulley, followed by the April indictment and remaining arrests in May.

Gulley was arrested in possession of two kilograms of nearly pure heroin following a high-speed chase with Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies on January 25. Later that night, agents seized one-and-a-half kilograms of cocaine from a home associated with Williams and Gulley.