City Man Convicted of Drug, Gun Offenses for Role in Large-Scale Drug Trafficking Organization Operating in Port Richmond Section of Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Phillip Gillard, 46, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was convicted at trial on February 16, 2024, of federal drug trafficking and firearm offenses.

On July 18, 2023, a grand jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania returned a 54-count superseding indictment charging Gillard and eight co-defendants with their participation in a large-scale drug trafficking organization operating in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia, in the immediate vicinity of the Memphis Street Academy, a charter school located at 2950 Memphis Street.

The charges in the indictment arose from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s two-year investigation into the Gillard drug trafficking organization, which supplied other drug traffickers with wholesale quantities of methamphetamine, phencyclidine (“PCP”), fentanyl, and other narcotics.

Throughout the course of the investigation, law enforcement agents conducted surveillance and undercover sting operations during which drugs were purchased from the defendants. Gillard and his co-defendants maintained three separate properties in connection with their drug trafficking organization, all of which were less than 1,000 feet away from the Memphis Street Academy.

In total, the FBI confiscated over 20 pounds of pure methamphetamine, three gallons of PCP, one and a half kilograms of cocaine, 900 grams of crack cocaine, 400 grams of fentanyl, and 11 firearms. 

Gillard now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Co-defendants Diane Gillard, Raphael Sanchez, Sharif Jackson, Amin Whitehead, Cesar Maldonado, and Terrence Maxwell previously pleaded guilty to similar charges and also face maximum sentences of life in prison. Co-defendants Melvin Dreher and Arron Preno previously pleaded guilty and face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the FBI, Philadelphia Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations, with extraordinary cooperation from the Memphis Street Academy, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Everett Witherell and Robert W. Schopf.