Last Remaining Defendant in Large PCP Ring Sentenced in East Coast Drug Conspiracy
Thirty People Convicted in Investigation

WASHINGTON—Coolridge Bell, 46, of New York, N.Y., was sentenced today to 19 years and six months in prison for his involvement in a large-scale drug ring that operated in Washington D.C. and along the East Coast.

The sentencing, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, was announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and Charles G. Dunne, United States Marshal for the Eastern District of New York.

Bell was convicted by a jury on November 3, 2010, of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute one kilogram or more of Phencyclidine (PCP). He was the final defendant to be tried in the case. In sentencing Bell today, Judge Thomas F. Hogan also ordered that the defendant complete five years of supervised release following the prison time.

The government’s evidence showed that Bell was a member of a drug ring headed by Lonnell Glover. From 2005 to 2007, the FBI conducted an investigation that revealed that Glover, now 49, was a major supplier of PCP and heroin in the District of Columbia and elsewhere on the East Coast. The investigation was supported by the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, a nationwide program that uses multi-agency teams to conduct comprehensive investigations of major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations.

Between February and June of 2007, Glover and Bell, acting in conjunction with 24 other co-conspirators, obtained approximately 50 gallons of PCP and distributed the drug in New York City and District of Columbia metropolitan areas. The PCP had a wholesale street value of more than $1 million. During that same time period, Glover and co-conspirators obtained and distributed multiple kilograms of heroin in the D.C. area, and attempted to obtain numerous kilograms of cocaine from the Bahamas. On June 19, 2007, law enforcement members arrested a total of 26 defendants as a result of the investigation. That same day, law enforcement recovered over $400,000, numerous firearms, several gallons of PCP, and a large amount of heroin.

Bell was responsible for trafficking approximately 13 gallons of PCP from Washington, D.C. to New York City. He received the PCP from Glover and then had a network of individuals who sold the PCP on the streets of New York. Bell remained a fugitive until September of 2009, when Deputy United States Marshals from the Eastern District of New York located him in the Bronx, New York.

All told, 32 defendants were charged as a result of their participation in the Glover drug trafficking rings. Thirty defendants have either pled guilty or were found guilty at trial, one defendant was acquitted at trial, and one defendant died in prison while awaiting trial. Seven separate trials were conducted against several of the defendants, including Glover. Glover and several of his co-conspirators were sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment.

In addition, in November of 2009, after a bench trial, Judge Hogan ruled that Glover’s residence in Temple Hills, Maryland was used to facilitate the drug conspiracy and therefore forfeited the residence to the government. Judge Hogan also required Glover to forfeit $1,050,000, which constituted proceeds from his drug conspiracy.

In announcing the sentencing, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director in Charge McJunkin, Chief Lanier and Marshal Dunne commended the work of the law enforcement members from the FBI, MPD and United States Marshals Service. They also praised the efforts of Supervisory Paralegal James Mazzitelli and Assistant United States Attorney’s John Han and Anthony Scarpelli, who prosecuted Bell, Glover, and the remaining defendants.