Feds Say Ex-NBA Star Tipped Off Drug Kingpin
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Former NBA player Jerome “Pooh” Richardson passed along a tip from a police officer friend that federal agents were about to raid the home his half-sister shared with a drug kingpin, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.
Richardson, 43, is not charged in the indictment, which accuses only the Philadelphia detective with criminal wrongdoing. The officer, Rickie Durham, is a longtime friend of Richardson’s who received a car, event tickets and other expensive gifts from the athlete over the years, the document said.
Prosecutors declined to say whether Richardson is cooperating or whether he broke the law in relaying the tip.
His alleged 3 a.m. phone call to Asya Richardson and drug kingpin Alton “Ace Capone” Coles prompted Coles to make a flurry of calls hours ahead of the huge two-state raid on Aug. 10, 2005. Police nonetheless recovered more than $500,000 in cash, 10 guns and 450 grams of cocaine in searches of the couple’s Mullica Hill, N.J., home and other properties linked to Coles’ group.
The indictment refers to Richardson as “J.R. Jr.” FBI spokesman Frank Burton Jr. confirmed the reference is to Richardson. It was not clear if Richardson had a lawyer representing him in the case, and a telephone listing for him could not be determined Wednesday.
Durham, also 43, was one of about 250 officers who gathered at 2:30 a.m. that morning in 2005 for the takedown, preparing to search 23 properties and 11 vehicles in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Months earlier, Durham had called Richardson, a Philadelphia native who lived in Los Angeles, to report that half-sister Asya Richardson was dating a drug dealer. In the Aug. 10 call, he allegedly told his friend, “We’re going to take her down too.”
Durham called on his FBI-issued cell phone, authorities said. After a grand jury probe was under way, he told authorities he had been trying to aid the investigation by getting Asya Richardson’s phone number, the indictment said.
Coles was convicted last year of running a violent drug enterprise and is serving a life sentence. Asya Richardson was convicted of money laundering but remains free pending her sentencing.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bresnick said that Durham’s tip could have cost officers their lives.
“It could have been tragic,” he said.
He will seek to detain Durham at a hearing Thursday, the same day Durham’s lawyer expects him to be terminated from the Philadelphia Police Department.
“He’s not the corrupt cop they make him out to be,” defense lawyer Fortunato N. Perri Jr. said after his client’s brief initial appearance before a judge. Durham plans to fight the charges, he said.
Richardson, a first-round draft choice out of UCLA in 1989, spent more than a decade in the NBA, playing for Minnesota, Indiana and the Los Angeles Clippers.
All week there’s been lots of conversation about the rise of right wing terrorism here in the US. Sadly most of this conversation has been sparked by the recent shooting of Stephen Johnsby an 88 year old Neo-Nazi named James W. Von Brunn who entered into a Holocaust museum intent on causing carnage. While many of us are outraged by what took place, we have sadly missed some glaring points in our collective discussion.
How does this relate to Von Brunn? Well where’s the conspiracy charges against him and every other Neo-Nazi and Klansmen who made no bones about their disdain for Blacks, Jews, Gays and now Mexicans crossing the border? Why was this 88 year old man walking around with a shotgun in the nation’s capital which is supposed to be on extra high alert for terrorism, while 7 men who don’t run websites and weren’t in organizations that have a history of killing and attacking entire communities of innocent people because of their race? on trial?
In the midst of Congress attempting to pass legislation specifically to recoup $165 million in bonuses that has scandalously gone to AIG executives, the House Judiciary Committee is seeking to pass H.R. 848, the Performance Rights Act. Under this law radio stations would be required to pay royalties to artists for the music they air. According to NAB Radio Board Chairman Steve Newberry, the current economic downturn has already forced radio stations nation-wide to layoff a considerable amount of employees and reduce wages by 5 to 10 percent. He warned in his testimony to the House that if the bill is passed, it will put a whole industry “at risk.” The radio industry currently employs nearly 106,000 people but yet is on the verge of bankruptcy, reporting billions of dollars in losses every year. Newberry adds that if the bill is passed it would force many radio stations to switch to more of a “talk show” format and make them even less diverse in their play lists. Currently radio stations throughout the country, especially ones that are oriented towards “urban” and “pop” music genres are criticized for almost strictly playing from top 25 Billboard chart playlists consistently and monotonously hour to hour. Under current circumstances, local artists receive very little to no play on local stations. The passing of H.R. 848 would most certainly make matters worse.
We sat down with former Green Party Vice Presidential candidate Rosa Clemente to break bread about a number of issues. First and foremost we wanted to talk about the current speaking tour she is on that addresses the issue of America being a post racial society in the aftermath of the election of President Obama.
I met Somalian born rapper Knaan about 3 or 4 years ago in his current place of residence Toronto. We chopped it up back then and he assured me that it was just a matter of time before the US Hip Hop scene would open its arms to rappers from other shores. At the time that seemed far fetched because even though we all know that Hip Hop is a worldwide phenomenon, very few heads in the states can cite more than 3 or 4 artists from neighboring Canada much less from overseas. Ask folks to name artists from Africa and the conversation is all but over…
We talked about the make up of Knaan’s album and what it was like working with Maroon 5’s Adam Levine and Hip Hop legend Chubb Rock. He explained that Levine was a real cool and basically came through and laid down vocals for free. He just wanted to show respect and appreciation for the music.