Drug trial ends with man's 4 convictions

W. Memphian acquitted on 2 charges

A West Memphis man who was accused of leading a large cocaine-trafficking operation in Crittenden County in 2012 and 2013 was convicted Friday on four of six charges he faced.

But a federal jury that heard nearly a week's worth of testimony and deliberated for a total of about eight hours acquitted Rafael McDaniel, 32, on a gun charge as well as a charge of using a telephone to further a drug conspiracy.

McDaniel, who remains in custody, will be sentenced at a later date on the main charge of conspiring to possess and deliver both powder cocaine and crack cocaine, as well as two charges of possessing cocaine and another gun charge.

The gun charge on which McDaniel was acquitted stemmed from a police search of his West Memphis home Feb. 19, 2012, when officers found 14 guns, drug paraphernalia and more than $12,000 in cash in separate piles. The other gun charge, on which he was convicted, involved a Nov. 18, 2013, search of another West Memphis home to which he had moved. In that search, officers found five guns, a smaller amount of cash, and 61/2 grams of cocaine that he said he had won playing dice.

McDaniel legally owned the guns, but federal prosecutors accused him of using the weapons to further a drug-trafficking conspiracy, which automatically increases any prison time imposed for drug charges.

McDaniel was one of about 20 people arrested in November 2013 after a two-year state and federal investigation into drug trafficking in the West Memphis area. The other defendants pleaded guilty ahead of the trial date, leaving McDaniel to face a jury alone.

During the investigation, called Operation Delta Crossroads, officers intercepted thousands of telephone calls from wiretapped phones in which drug deals were discussed in coded language and talkers discussed plans to use weapons if necessary.

McDaniel's attorney, Chris Tarver of the federal public defender's office, argued that in most of the intercepted calls that involved McDaniel, the callers were merely talking about McDaniel and his ability to cook cocaine into crack, as opposed to making drug deals.

Assistant U.S Attorney Benecia Moore told jurors in her closing argument that McDaniel was "a big part of" a cocaine conspiracy and pointed out that he admitted to an FBI agent that he had sold drugs for 21/2 to 3 years, during which time he had probably sold a kilogram (equivalent to 2.2 pounds) of the drug altogether, in a series of small-quantity sales.

The trial was heard in the Little Rock courtroom of Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Miller.

Metro on 03/21/2015

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