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Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James indicted with his “companion”

HAT TIP: Newark Star-Ledger by Ian T. Shern and John P. Martin

Sharpe James, the legendary former Newark mayor who spent a quarter-century as a dominant force in New Jersey politics, was charged this afternoon with defrauding taxpayers by billing the city for vacations with female friends and arranging lucrative city land deals for a companion.

Ending a nearly three-year FBI investigation, a federal grand jury in Newark indicted James on 33 counts that include conspiracy and mail and wire fraud.

The 86-page indictment said James, 71, arranged for the city to sell municipal real estate at a steep discount to a Newark businesswoman, Tamika Riley, then secretly shared in the profits when Riley sold the parcels to developers.

Prosecutors also accused James of using city-issued credit cards to pay for lavish trips he took with eight women, including Riley, to places including Martha’s Vineyard, Rio de Janeiro, the Dominican…

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Unsolved: NBA Star Lorenzen Wright’s Murder Still A Mystery

You can still travel along the narrow back road off of Callis Cutoff between Hacks Cross and Germantown — the same path that Lorenzen Wright took July 18th, 2010. Later that night, he lost his life.

Ten days later, on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 28, 2010, the gunshot-riddled, decomposed remains of the former NBA star were found in a secluded field near the narrow strip of road. Today, barbed wire, an electric fence, and “no trespassing” signs prohibit access to the area.

Wright was last seen alive leaving the house of his ex-wife Sherra Wright and their six children in Collierville around 10:30 p.m. on July 18th. Sherra would later inform Collierville police detectives that he had a box of drugs and an indefinite amount of money in his possession. She also stated she overheard Wright on the telephone saying he was going to “flip something for $110,000.” He left her home in a car with a person she could not identify.

Minutes after midnight, Monday, July 19th, a 911 dispatcher in Germantown received a call from a frantic voice muffling an expletive before more than 10 gunshots were heard. According to Courthouse News Service reports, one of the 911 dispatchers then hung up on the phone call to handle the police radio, while another dispatcher attempted to call the cell phone number back. No one responded.

It wasn’t until Tuesday, July 27th, one day before Wright’s body was located, that the Germantown 911 service notified investigators about the call — five days after Wright’s mother, Deborah Marion, had reported him missing. Many, including Wright’s parents and his ex-wife, questioned why the Germantown 911 service took so long to contact the proper authorities.

When the 34-year-old’s body was located by Shelby County Emergency Services Search and Rescue, it weighed a mere 57 pounds, due to exposure to the summer heat, rain, and animals. At the time of his death, Wright weighed around 225 pounds and stood 6′ 11″.

Although the exact number of times Wright was shot is uncertain, his autopsy report confirmed he suffered two shots to the head, two to the torso, and one to the right forearm.

“They wouldn’t let me go down there and see him,” Marion recalls. “I wanted to see my child for the last time. I wanted to just walk his last walk. That’s all I wanted to do.”

Three years after Wright’s death, no arrests have been made. Numerous rumors have surfaced, including the possibility that Wright was involved in drug trafficking and was killed when a transaction went wrong. Or that he was set up by someone close to him. There are also allegations that Wright had ties to drug kingpin Craig Petties’ organization and was executed. And the list goes on, but they are just rumors.

“There’s no difference from a rumor in high school than one dealing with a homicide,” says Dennis McNeil, 25-year Memphis Police Department veteran and longtime friend of Wright. “Until some facts can be established [and] somebody can positively verify something that happened, it just remains a rumor.”

One thing that isn’t a rumor is the fact that Wright leaves behind a shining basketball legacy that will be fondly remembered by many. Wright was born and raised in Oxford, Mississippi, but moved to Memphis his senior year in high school. He played for Booker T. Washington High School, averaging 19.1 rebounds in the regular season for the school. He was selected to participate in the 1994 McDonald’s All American game in New York.
Read more about Lorenzen Wright’s mysterious murder on Memphis Flyer.

Memphis Craig Petties Drug Runner Draws Eight-Year Sentence

By Bill Dries–A professional drag racer and mechanic who used his racing trailers to run money and cocaine for the Craig Petties drug organization was sentenced Monday, Oct. 29, to eight years and one month in prison.

Bobby Cole is the first defendant indicted as part of the largest and most violent drug organization ever tried in Memphis federal court to be sentenced.

Cole, 43, was a defendant in one of eight sets of indictments in the Petties drug case. He pleaded guilty to a single count of racketeering conspiracy in a later separate criminal information. An information is when a defendant is charged and pleads guilty in the same action.

Memphis Federal Court Judge Samuel “Hardy” Mays sentenced Cole taking into account his cooperation with federal authorities at a late stage in the investigation into the multi-state drug organization run by Craig Petties.

The organization had direct ties to the Sinaloa drug cartel of Mexico, and others in the organization including Petties have pleaded guilty to federal drug and racketeering charges that include the murders of six people.

Cole, by his own admission, got involved with the Petties drug organization in 2006, four years after Petties fled to Mexico where he ran the multi-state organization from exile. It was about two years before Petties was captured in Mexico and brought back to the U.S. by federal drug agents.

Cole drove racecars, a sport Petties and those close to him pursued as a hobby. That was how Cole became one of several sources of transportation for 20 kilos of cocaine into Memphis at a time worth an estimated $20,000 per kilo and the millions of dollars in cash made from selling the illegal drugs.

Two months before Petties was captured, federal agents raided Cole’s home in Hickory Hill as well as a garage Cole operated near Memphis International Airport.

They didn’t arrest Cole then, but they seized more than $140,000 in cash as well as a racecar Cole owned and other vehicles with an estimated value of $500,000.

Cole’s attorney filed suit to get the money back. Federal agents then began detailing their case against Cole saying he was involved in counting and handling millions of dollars at a time that was taken to Mexico from drug sales in the Memphis area as well as in surrounding states.

Mays gave Cole some credit for cooperating with authorities shortly after he was charged and agreeing to testify if necessary against others in an organization “that survived in part by terror – by killing people.” Cole was not called as a witness at the one trial in the case.

“Mr. Cole was not as culpable as some. But he was more culpable than others,” Mays added. “He was a major player.”

Mays is scheduled Friday to sentence another admitted member of the drug organization, Clarence Broady, who killed several people for the organization and admitted it during his testimony in the trial earlier this year of Martin Lewis and Clinton Lewis. The Lewises were the only two defendants charged in the case who went to trial. Both were convicted by a jury of drug conspiracy, racketeering and murder for hire charges and are awaiting sentencing.

Mays schedule also includes a sentencing hearing Wednesday that bears the case number of the Petties’ indictment. But no name is listed as the defendant to be sentenced and the hearing is sealed.