Three of the four top defendants in a West Memphis-based drug-trafficking operation busted up in November 2013 negotiated guilty pleas on Wednesday, leaving only the purported ringleader and two others set for trial next month.
In separate hearings, Chief U.S. District Judge Brian S. Miller accepted guilty pleas from Wendell Glenn, 28, David Green, 26, and Delvin Green, 24, all of West Memphis.
In a Nov. 18, 2013, roundup dubbed Operation Delta Crossroads, law enforcement officers arrested 20 people who had been indicted by a federal grand jury on Nov. 6. Most were arrested in West Memphis and Crittenden County, but some were apprehended in northern Mississippi, Tennessee, Boston and Houston.
Authorities identified Rafael "Raf" McDaniel, 32, of West Memphis as the leader of what they called a large interstate cocaine-trafficking ring. McDaniel still awaits trial on numerous charges, while Detarious Robinson, 22, and Jessie Robinson, 24, both also of West Memphis, remain scheduled for a jury trial beginning March 16.
All the other defendants have pleaded guilty.
In a hearing shortly after the arrests, an FBI agent testified that federal task-force agents were kept on edge throughout the two-year investigation because talk of violence, including plans to engage in a shootout with police, were heard repeatedly in the thousands of intercepted telephone calls that led to the indictments.
Glenn, the second-named defendant, and the Green brothers all pleaded guilty Wednesday to the main charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, in return for the dismissal of their other pending charges.
According to plea agreements, Glenn admitted that between January 2012 and November 2013, he bought cocaine for redistribution in West Memphis and elsewhere, and helped distribute at least five kilograms, or 11 pounds, of the drug. David Green, who is also known as "Big Red," admitted purchasing cocaine and helping distribute at least 280 grams, or 9.8 ounces, of crack during the same time period. Delvin Green, also known as "Wee Wee," admitted to distributing at least 280 grams, or 9.8 ounces, of crack during that time and agreed that he faces an enhanced sentence because he possessed a weapon.
In the November 2013 hearing, FBI agent John Marsh told a federal judge in Little Rock that whenever law enforcement officers heard about potential acts of violence while listening to wiretapped calls, officers "would go out and saturate the area" in an effort to prevent the promised violence. He said task-force officers would then hear their targets complaining on wiretapped calls that "police are everywhere tonight."
Metro on 02/12/2015