Thursday, December 6, 2007

Inside the Fish Bowl: Infiltrating a drug ring

By BRYON OKADA
Star-Telegram staff writer

FORT WORTH -- He called himself Tee.

He was a dealer from the west side of Fort Worth who sold dope near Texas Christian University. He could foot the bill for big purchases if need be. But his supplier had just been taken down by the cops, so he needed a new source. That was April 2005, when he started hanging around a tightly knit east Fort Worth neighborhood controlled by the Crips, talking to the crack dealers on the street.

Tee never acted the part of a gang member -- he was just a businessman. Suppliers were suspicious at first. But over the next year, Tee became a regular buyer in the neighborhood, and as he was introduced to leaders higher in the gang's chain of command -- Michael "MD" Lewis, Kelvin "Lil K" Spencer and Bertrand "Bee Bee" Bell -- he found that they were mostly businessmen, too.

"They were very smart," he said. "They were businessmen. I could call Bertrand Bell at 6:30 in the morning and he'd be doing business. The top people were not drug users. They drove average-looking vehicles. The people drawing attention to them get busted. These guys were smarter than that."

The operation
Lookouts were posted near the two entrances to the small neighborhood -- called the Fish Bowl -- on the western edge of Cobb Park, bounded by Colvin Street, Belzise Terrace, Glen Garden Drive and South Riverside Drive. If cops came near, any guns and drugs on the street would quickly disappear.

But Tee could walk in and do business. And after a while, other crack dealers would vouch for him, and true to his word, when larger amounts of drugs were available, he had the money to make the buys.

Lewis supplied the cocaine -- about 20 kilograms a week -- that eventually made its way to the street. He rarely if ever touched his product.

Corey "Blue" Holmes made the deliveries to the Fish Bowl, and once there, it was cooked into crack by Bell and Spencer, according to court testimony.

There were days when as many as 30 dealers would stand on the sidewalk, or at the corner of Talton Avenue and Belzise Terrace, selling to regulars. Local cops said the neighborhood was "anti-police" and considered impenetrable to surprise raids.
Only regulars could buy. Street dealers stood along the blocks to make sure drugs were divided evenly. Customers would drive down the street and signal to the dealers. Street dealers would come to the car and take an order. Someone else would retrieve the drugs from the nearby woods or from behind one of the houses on the block. Another person usually delivered the drugs to the car.

Several drug houses were set up in the Fish Bowl and the nearby Poly area, where the users could go after making their buys. Prostitutes, who were typically users as well, were often on hand to service the dealers, trading tricks for dope. Although the gang leaders tended to avoid using drugs, they joined in with the street dealers in partaking of the prostitutes.

But on May 17, 2006, the massive operation came to an end. In a roundup by federal and local law enforcement officers, 18 people were arrested on drug-trafficking warrants. The early busts netted 25 guns and $1 million in drugs. In the coming days, there were more arrests.

The prosecution

The FBI had been called in months before, extending the Fort Worth Police Department's resources.

And Tee, it turned out, was an undercover Fort Worth police officer named Tegan Broadwater. Evidence gathered by Broadwater and the FBI during his 13 months undercover would be central to the federal government's prosecutions.
About half the warrants in the case were for people who did not live in the Fish Bowl.

Court testimony during the trials and sentencings -- beginning with Bell on Oct. 13, 2006 -- indicated that information was passing between defendants through go-betweens and relatives. Threats were exchanged, and it became known that anyone who testified against someone else could expect harsh reprisals once in prison. Bell was stabbed in a Beaumont prison. He was subsequently moved to another prison. (In prison lingo, informants are "given the jacket," meaning they can't remove the label of snitch.) Although Fish Bowl defendants were scattered to various federal prisons, retribution was common because of the vast network of Crips.

On Wednesday, nearly 19 months after the first round of arrests, U.S. District Judge Terry Means sentenced Holmes, 25, to time served, concluding the lengthy federal prosecution of Operation Fish Bowl. Holmes, who was described as a go-between for criminals higher up in the drug-trafficking chain, had been in federal custody since January 2006. In addition, Holmes and his family were threatened repeatedly because of his cooperation with prosecutors.

"I'm just concerned for the safety of my family," a relative of Holmes told Means on Wednesday. The family has moved.

Although his federal sentence has been served, Holmes remains in custody pending the outcome of a state case.

The 41 Fish Bowl sentences total 629 years, 7 months and one life sentence. Information gathered for the federal prosecution during the past 19 months resulted in nine cold-case homicides being investigated and some being prosecuted in state court.

In May, Broadwater, who was moved to the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force, was recognized by the Fort Worth Police Department as Officer of the Year.

THE FISH BOWL

The small neighborhood, about three miles southeast of downtown Fort Worth, had two well-guarded entrances and was considered impenetrable to surprise raids.

Fish Bowl leaders

Lewis was the main supplier of cocaine to the east side. Bell and Spencer ran the Fish Bowl operations. Bell provided drugs to the street dealers to sell to their customers. Spencer and a cohort rented a house on Belzise Terrace to distribute marijuana and crack cocaine.

Lookouts posted

Anyone turning onto Colvin Street would be spotted by a lookout with a walkie-talkie cell phone. Anyone entering at the intersection of Belzise Terrace and Glen Garden Drive would be spotted before reaching the blocks where the drugs were sold.

Dope market

Although street dealers sold to customers along nearby streets as well, this corner was the most popular spot. Many Fish Bowl cases were based on undercover deals made here. "That was basically the 7-Eleven of dope," Fort Worth police officer Darrell Cleveland said.

FISH BOWL SENTENCES
The defendants in Operation Fish Bowl were convicted mostly on drug-trafficking charges:

Detroit "Lil Nut" Hines: Life
Howard "TT" Taylor: 60 years
Michael "OG Mike" Holt: 40 years
John "Blacc" Broadus: 30 years
Isaac "Gooch" Fountain: 30 years
Bertrand "Bee Bee" Bell: 20 years
Lawrence "Winkey" Carey: 20 years
Anthony "Lil Ant" Conley: 20 years
Mark "Big Dog" Driver: 20 years
Darryl "No Nut" Hines: 20 years
Michael "MD" Lewis: 20 years
Louis "Youngsta" Moody: 20 years
Aundra "Cookie" Taylor: 20 years
Kenneth "Lil Crazy" Walker: 20 years
Derrick "DWood" Woodard: 20 years
Aaron Wooden: 20 years
Ali Mitchell: 19 years, 7 months
Tony "Lala" Wadley: 19 years, 7 months
DeAngelo "Duck" Bell: 15 years, 8 months
Tony "T-Cag" Collins: 15 years, 8 months
Matthew "Junior" Dillard: 15 years, 6 months
Orlando "Gator" Howard: 15 years
Kelvin "Lil K" Spencer: 15 years
Princel "Bubba" Williams: 13 years
Aaron "A.T." Temple: 12 years, 6 months
Fedrick Moore: 11 years, 8 months
Gary "Gangsta" Wright: 11 years
Cleonard "Monk" Davis: 10 years
Valree Hartin: 10 years
Larry "187" White: 10 years
Reginald "Reggie" Harris: 9 years
Roderick "Big Rod" Howard: 8 years, 4 months
Gary "Lil Gary" Marshall: 7 years, 10 months
James "Woo" Wooden: 6 years
David "David Wayne" Page: 5 years, 10 months
Bobby "Man" Watkins: 5 years, 6 months
Miki "Smokey" Espinoza: 4 years
Calvin "C" Smith: 3 years
DeMarcus "Lil Cuzz" Penix: 2 years
Kristal Simpson: 2 years
Corey "Blue" Holmes: 1 year, 11 months

Cocaine in America
1. Texas is the leading entry point for cocaine in the United States.

2. Cocaine production is believed to be increasing because new coca fields have been discovered in Colombia and because record seizures have not resulted in cocaine shortages. (Colombia is the source of nearly 70 percent of the world's pure cocaine. In 2005, an estimated 545 metric tons were produced.)

3. Cocaine shipments to the United States are primarily through Mexico and are handled by Mexican drug-traffickers such as the Gulf Cartel and The Alliance. Several Mexican organizations are in violent dispute over smuggling routes. Although most of the confrontations are in Mexico, some have spilled into South Texas. Such groups have technology, weapons and communications equal or superior to federal, state and local law enforcement.

4. U.S. law officers seized an estimated 234 metric tons of cocaine in transit in 2005.

5. Mexican, Colombian and African-American drug-trafficking organizations and criminal groups are the prime distributors of cocaine in the southwest United States, which includes Texas.

Sources: Justice Department, National Drug Threat Assessment 2007, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis (South Texas), May 2007

LOCAL CRIME TIME STORIES

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Myths and Legends of the American Gangster

With so much hype about Denzel Washington's new movie "American Gangster", I thought that I would write a little something about the real Frank Lucas.

They say the “American Gangster” is based upon a true story. But it cannot all be true. This is how myths and legends are made. They would never tell the whole true story. I know, because I knew the man in the movie- not Denzel Washington, but Frank Lucas himself.

When I first saw the trailer, it jumped out at me. This was not a cheap Fifty-Cent gangster rap hip-hop movie. This was one of the real gangsters from the old school. I recognized the hat and the dress style as something from the 1960s, and immediately I said to myself, “I know this guy”- the American Gangster. I did time with him in prison.

At first, I thought it was Nicky Barnes, once featured on the cover of Time magazine as “Mr. Untouchable”, the black gangster out of New York who averaged $5 million a month in the drug trade- the guy I played chess with every day out on the prison yard. But no, instead, it was Frank Lucas, Mr. Untouchable’s predecessor- the guy who worked in the prison dish tank with me- the guy best known for shipping high quality heroin from Indo-China in the body bags of dead American soldiers who died in Vietnam.

I could not help but wonder how Hollywood got Frank’s life story, until I read the interview with Denzel. Damn, Frank is still alive, now in his 70s. But Hollywood kills him off in the movie- so much for “true stories”.

“American Gangster” also confirmed another rumor. Nicky Barnes is still alive. Both Lucas and Barnes survived to get out of prison, and both are alive, today- no doubt living in hiding under the federal witness protection program. Both men turned snitch.

Will Hollywood tell the whole story, that both men turned state’s evidence to get out of prison? Will they tell about the J. Edgar Hoover illegal FBI wiretaps and how they decoded the secret language used in the drug traffic? Will they show the CIA’s part in the drug trafficking and the duffle bags of pure heroin being transported across Indo-China during the height of the Vietnam War? Will they portray Frank Lucas as a lowly army sergeant cook or some super war hero?

I wonder, which provokes my desire to see the movie even more.

Somehow I fear that revisionist’s history is again in the making- a true story that is not altogether true. Damn, why did Frank Lucas come out of hiding to sell his story to Hollywood? How was it arranged? Under the federal witness protection program, a snitch is not supposed to reveal his new identity. Otherwise, the government is exonerated from protecting him, and there are many men in prison looking for the whereabouts of Frank Lucas and Nicky Barnes.

Recently, I posted a YouTube video interview of Nicky Barnes, whose image was blacked out. Nevertheless, he looked different. When I knew him, he had hair. Now he is bald. They say Cuba Gooding, Jr will portray the part of Barnes in “American Gangster”.

The cast of characters (Denzel and Gooding, Jr.) will almost guarantee the movie’s success. Some even suggest that Washington gives another Oscar-winning performance. On its merits, the movie has historical value. But I am afraid that black youth will come away with the wrong impression, just as the younger generation idolized Lucas during his day when he reigned as drug kingpin of the world. It was the old school gangsters that gave birth to the gangsta culture of today. Every black boy in Harlem wanted to be like Lucas and Barnes, because they had lots of money, fancy cars, diamonds, women, and a wardrobe to kill for.

One of the funny stories told to me by Lucas was how he stashed all his cash in a closet. As the money piled up, it was harder and harder to close the closet. He had to put all his body weight against door in order to throw more money into the closet.

That was the only story I remember from Lucas. But I learned even more about the secret language they used in their telephone transactions- a variation of Pig Latin with the use of “z” breaking up the symbols. Everybody on the streets of New York and Washington could speak it, and it was even put to music. But the Feds could not figure out a word.

Nicky Barnes was another character in prison, dethroned like the rest of us, and given a number for an identity. Whatever we were in the outside world meant nothing. We were all a number, and nobody was a big shot. So, I thought nothing of their crime life. Everybody in super-maximum security had a high profile crime life. Therefore, nobody was impressed with used-to-bees. As proof, a black inmate of no distinction slapped around the infamous “Teflon Don” Mafia boss, only to have a hit contract put out on his life. But it was the Mafia boss who did not live to come out of prison.

Like Lucas, Nicky Barnes got a reduced prison sentence for ratting on his partners in crime. I never knew it at the same that Barnes was snitching, though I knew many men who, one day, would disappear from the prison compound and next day become a government star witness. When I look back and remember, I can understand what broke Leroy Nicky Barnes. I should have been able to detect it, playing chess with him every day.

You see, Barnes would hold his head in his hands as he studied the chessboard, and whenever he thought he made a great move, he would jump up, clap his hands, and walk around the table- kind of like circling his opponent. Fact is, Nicky Barnes was a man with things on his mind, more important than chess. He was thinking about the rumors the Feds were whispering to him about his lieutenant, his wife, and his daughter. His best friend had moved into the void he left behind in the outside world- the drug empire, the money, his wife, and now rumors that he was having sex with his teenage daughter also. The next day Nicky Barnes disappeared from off the face of the earth, until I saw the YouTube video.

Had he come out of hiding also to sell his story to Hollywood? Did he and Frank collaborate on this project? Hell, I didn’t even know that the two guys knew each other, though I now recall their names cropping up in the same conversations in prison.

Yeah, I think that I will go see the movie, but not on its opening night on November 2, which is Economic Blackout Day in support of the Jena 6. I must see it in order to sort between fact and fiction, and set the record straight, if necessary.

I still cannot believe this is the way Frank Lucas wishes to be remembered, as a gangster who destroyed the black community with his drugs. Maybe there is a message here. I know Barnes tries to convey a message of sorts through his video, about what he used to be and the fact that it was dangerous to even know him during his heydays. But I see nothing that will prevent other youngsters from following down his path.

This is why I hesitate to publish any of my memoirs. This is not how I want to be remembered, as a gangster revolutionary and bank robber. Whenever I mention any aspect of my old life as the Black Robin Hood, it is always in the context of a larger lesson to be learned.

You see, I know how myths and legends get started. It was not I who named myself the Black Robin Hood of Texas. This was a Feds’ thing that had been going on since Hoover began publishing his Most Wanted List. He gave every high profile criminal a nickname. The Black Robin Hood myth began on the streets. They said I robbed from the rich and gave to the poor- not true. This rumor got started after my last bank robbery when it was reported that while trying to escape, we threw money out the window as we drove through the black neighborhoods of Fort Worth- again, not true.

But people would rather believe the myths and legends, and old outlaws are not going to tell otherwise. But for the sake of history, we must put the facts in order.