DRUG DEALER'S SENTENCE EXTENDED

Authorities Later Found He Was Part Of Ring

A man already serving a 5-year prison term for drug trafficking was
sentenced Friday to three additional years in prison for his
involvement in a violent ring believed responsible for distributing
tens of thousands of pounds of marijuana annually in Milwaukee.

Daniel Ellis has been in prison since 1999 for marijuana trafficking,
but when he was sent away then, authorities thought they were
imprisoning an independent drug dealer.

Not only did they not realize that he was a key figure in the alleged
ring, he continued his involvement behind bars, making phone calls
from prison about uncollected debts owed the man believed to head the
ring.

"It galls me, it appalls me that you were making these telephone calls
from prison," Circuit Judge Richard J. Sankovitz told Ellis. "What I'm
punishing you for today is the things we didn't know before."

Ellis, 40, was the first of 11 defendants charged in the case to be
convicted and sentenced for involvement in the ring. He was sentenced
by Sankovitz after pleading guilty to a state racketeering charge for
his involvement.

The alleged ring leader, Kenneth L. Green, a Chicagoan jailed in lieu
of a locally unprecedented $10 million bail, faces prison terms
totaling up to 255 years if he is convicted as now charged.
Authorities believe is he responsible for the distribution of large
quantities of marijuana in Milwaukee since 1996.

The ring also is alleged to have distributed occasional kilograms of
cocaine when the marijuana market was lean. The case against Green and
the others began with a secret probe 18 months ago.

During the probe, authorities learned not only that the marijuana
Ellis was sent to prison for distributing came from the network
allegedly headed by Green, but discovered that Ellis was making debt
collection calls from prison at Green's behest, according to court
records.

"He was significantly involved in this organization," Assistant
District Attorney John Chisholm told Sankovitz on Friday. "He
distributed a large quantity of marijuana."

Defense Attorney Martin E. Kohler told Sankovitz that Ellis got
involved in the drug trade after losing his job at Harnischfeger
Industries in 1996.

"He always had been a hard-working man until he got laid off," Kohler
said.

Ellis apologized and said there was "no excuse" for his drug dealing,
but added, "I wasn't making good money."

"I believe there still is some risk," Sankovitz told Ellis before
sending him back to prison with a longer sentence, "so I can't write
this off."