Pubdate: Sun, 26 Feb 2012 Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) Copyright: 2012 The Commercial Appeal Contact: http://web.commercialappeal.com/newgo/forms/letters.htm Website: http://www.commercialappeal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/95 Author: Beth Warren TRIAL OFFERS VIEW OF MEMPHIS' DRUG LORDS Trial offers view of Memphis' drug lords Case of 2 cousins -- accused of being hit men in Petties' violent gang -- to resume Monday Killers callously hunting down their Memphis targets. A Mexico death squad armed with assault rifles and silencers hidden in Cordova. A 6-year-old boy caught up in a shootout over a multi-million-dollar drug heist. This portrait of Memphis' secret seedy side is continuing to take shape each day in the ongoing federal trial of two alleged hit men from the city's most notorious drug organization. The most anticipated witness, organization leader Craig Petties, has yet to testify. Petties, who preached loyalty at all costs and ordered the deaths of those who betrayed him, has already become what he hated -- a government snitch. He is on a long list of potential witnesses, but prosecutors won't say when or if he will testify. The third week of testimony begins Monday in the trial of two cousins who are accused of being hit men for Petties -- Clinton "Goldie" Lewis, 36, and Martin "M" Lewis, 34. Both are charged with drug trafficking, murder and money laundering. Because both are also charged with racketeering under a federal law designed to decimate the Mafia, much testimony has focused on crimes of the organization as a whole, not just on the alleged roles of the Lewises. That's expected to change this week. Prosecutors Greg Gilluly and David Pritchard are expected to bring in witnesses to two murders, one apiece blamed on each cousin. So far, defense attorneys Anne Tipton and Marty McAfee have focused on key witnesses' motives to testify in hopes of shaving time off their prison sentences. That includes a Petties hit man who told jurors he has killed two people but hopes to be released from prison soon. Security for the trial has been heightened, with court officials shielding jurors' identities and manning extra checkpoints. Armed U.S. Marshals pick jurors up daily from a secret location and escort them to and from the Memphis courthouse. Extra marshals have been brought in from Little Rock to help guard the courtroom. More than 30 Petties associates have pleaded guilty to charges ranging from cocaine trafficking and racketeering to murder. Many, including Petties, await sentencing. Several from Petties' inner circle already have testified about the drug ring's inner workings. They told about their Jaguars, Range Rovers, race cars, diamond watches and 50-carat necklaces. They also covertly set up drug "stash houses" in Collierville, Germantown, Bartlett, Cordova, Olive Branch and East Memphis. Many had families, leaving children exposed to the violence that accompanies the volatile drug trade. One boy helped clean the multiple gun wounds of his father's friend, who had survived a murder-for-hire plot. Two hit men testified how they killed people they had known for years. As one put it, "It was just business." Their boss, Petties, had ordered the murders. Petties had eluded federal agents for years, hiding in Acapulco under the wing of a ruthless Mexican cartel. He was eventually captured in the city of Queretaro and deported in 2008. He could have faced a death penalty trial, but secretly pleaded guilty in 2009. That same year, Petties' link to the cartel, Texas native Edgar "La Barbie" Valdez Villarreal, reportedly battled for control of the Beltran Leyva, a struggle that resulted in shootouts, decapitations and bodies hung from bridges, according to The Associated Press. A year later, police in Mexico City arrested "La Barbie," who has been indicted on drug-trafficking counts in Atlanta and elsewhere. In Memphis, U.S. Atty. Ed Stanton said Friday he can't discuss where "La Barbie" will be tried first or whether Petties will be a key witness. The case against the Petties ring began with an embedded undercover Memphis police officer and has remained largely secret with many court records still sealed. That's why there are daily surprises in the trial even though it centers around a four-year-old indictment. During the Lewises' trial, some Petties underlings say they began their lives of crime while in elementary school, selling crack rocks to addicts lined up in cars in their impoverished South Memphis neighborhood. Petties later emerged as a leader, using a variety of tricks to remain stealth as he grew his criminal enterprise. Eventually, he morphed into a domineering kingpin, often funneling in multi-millions of dollars worth of cocaine biweekly. He bought houses in Memphis and Las Vegas and had a fleet of luxury cars, including a $339,000 Bentley. As a high-level broker with the Beltran Leyva cartel, Petties oversaw the shipments coming in from Mexico to the South, often via FedEx. When Petties hit the radar of local police and, in turn, federal agents, he fled to Mexico in 2002. He made the U.S. Marshal's 15 Most Wanted list and was featured on TV show "America's Most Wanted." As a multi-jurisdictional task force, headed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration closed in, several associates joined Petties in Mexico, including a man and his kidnapped daughter. Due to their cartel ties, the Memphis men "owned the city." If they were pulled over, the Mexican police ended up apologizing. From Mexico, Petties continued to reign over his Memphis-based enterprise. He used two-way radios to phone in orders to kill rivals and to check on drug shipments. After moving to Mexico, he began to emulate the cartel's bloodlust mentality. Prosecutors say from 2002 until 2007, Petties ordered at least five Memphis murders. A sixth victim was killed for being in the car with an intended target. Testimony continues Monday as admitted triple-murderer Clarence Broady, returns to the witness stand. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart