The federal jury trial of a reputed Crips gang member was abruptly aborted Monday at the Richard Sheppard Arnold Federal Courthouse in Little Rock when the defendant decided at the last minute to plead guilty to three of the charges he was facing.
Eiichi Jumawanna Moore, 42, of Jonesboro was accused of being the head of a drug-trafficking ring responsible for distributing pound quantities of methamphetamine in northeast Arkansas over a nine-month period in 2019, ending in January 2020.
Three of Moore's co-defendants have pleaded guilty to narcotics conspiracy charges -- two of them Thursday -- and are awaiting sentencing.
Jury selection was already underway when Moore entered his guilty plea, court officials said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison Bragg, public information officer for the U.S. attorney's office in Little Rock, said that while the plea would save the cost of a full week of arguments and jury deliberations, Moore is unlikely to receive any consideration when he is sentenced because of the expense of gearing up for trial.
"The purpose of a plea is to save the government all the time and resources of getting ready for the trial," Bragg said.
"They already did that, so that is going to be expensive for him at the time of sentencing."
Bragg said Moore pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, impeding and interfering with a federal officer, and felon in possession of a firearm.
He could get up to life in prison on the drug conspiracy count, 20 years for the felon in possession of a firearm count and 10 years for impeding and interfering with a federal officer, and could face a fine of up to $10 million, according to the plea agreement filed Monday.
She said three additional counts -- distribution of methamphetamine, discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime, and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence -- will be dismissed.
"A lot of times we have so much it's not really any skin off of our nose to let a couple of [charges] go," Bragg said.
"Because they will most likely run concurrently, they'll probably get the same sentence regardless."
According to court documents, Moore and co-defendant Lakendra Thomas sold 436 grams of methamphetamine to a cooperating individual in April 2019 in Jonesboro for $3,500.
And on Jan. 15, 2020, both were arrested by federal agents at their home there.
Court documents said that during the arrest Moore fired several shots from a 9 mm pistol, and a subsequent search of the residence turned up three firearms.
Jim McCormack, the federal court clerk, said that by making the plea, Moore freed up the calendar for the week.
"We don't want to go to the expense of bringing in a jury panel, which we did, and everybody being prepared for trial," McCormack said.
"But I think sometimes the way the court will generally look at it is, well, if they have a change of mind and decide to plea, if we have the jury here we'll thank them for their service and we'll go ahead and dismiss them."
Even at that late hour, McCormack said, the resources of the court can be saved for later proceedings.
"Obviously, we'd like to get that done with some warning," McCormack said.
"So that we can avoid some of the preparations. We're not complaining about it, but I do feel bad for the inconvenience of the jury and the parties when there is a last-minute plea."
He said a positive effect, however, is that the courtroom, which was scheduled for a one-week jury trial, is now freed up for other proceedings.
"Even though it's last-minute, there's still a savings and a more efficient use of resources than what would have been for having to go through a three-, four- or five-day trial," he said.
Moore will be sentenced following completion of a presentence report by the probation and pretrial services office.
Thomas, 28, and Julian Woods, 34, both of Jonesboro, pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution of methamphetamine before U.S. District Judge Brian S. Miller. Neither had a plea agreement with government prosecutors and both had rejected plea deals offered by the U.S. attorney's office.
Each faces a possible sentence of 10 years to life in federal prison and a fine of up to $10 million. Under the statute, both are subject to a minimum of 10 years.
A fourth defendant, Cordero Harris, pleaded guilty April 5 and is also awaiting sentencing.