‘Worst of the worst’ inmate convicted in drug conspiracy

A jury convicted Jerry Alexander today in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine after about four hours of deliberation. The jury determined that Alexander was guilty of conspiring to distribute 28 grams or less of crack cocaine.

This conviction of less than 28 grams is just a fraction of the amount of cocaine Alexander was accused of distributing in his original indictment.

Alexander, 48, was arrested along with 31 other men in a four-year federal investigation ending in November of 2013. These men were all labeled by city officials as the “worst of the worst” drug criminals in the city. A majority of these men were indicted separately and have taken plea deals or pleaded guilty in court.

Alexander is the first and possibly only defendant on his indictment of eight men to go to trial in the conspiracy case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Poole argued throughout the trial that Alexander was part of a conspiracy to distribute more than 280 grams of crack cocaine and more than five kilos of powder cocaine.

Poole pointed to wiretaps, controlled buys and a co-defendant’s testimony in court to support his argument that Alexander was a part of a large conspiracy.

“If he was in for a penny he was in for a pound,” Poole repeatedly said during his closing argument on Tuesday.

But Alexander’s attorney, Clayton Whittaker, argued that his client was simply a user — never was a part of a larger conspiracy — and sold only small amounts of crack on the street to feed his addiction.

Whittaker said in closing argument, “if [Alexander] was involved in this conspiracy where is the evidence?”

See Wednesday’s Times Free Press for the full story.