BAY AREA MAN GUILTY OF HEADING DRUG RING

Kevin Lee Davis, 32, Was Named As A Major West Coast Cocaine Supplier

OAKLAND -- A Walnut Creek father who lived life as a family man in an
upscale suburban neighborhood was convicted Friday of heading a
multimillion-dollar drug ring that trafficked in hundreds of pounds of cocaine.

Kevin Lee Davis shook his head slightly as the clerk for U.S. District
Court Judge D. Lowell Jensen read through verdict after verdict fingering
the 32-year-old man as a major West Coast cocaine supplier.

Davis was convicted of 88 counts from a weighty indictment handed up in
1999 naming nearly two dozen defendants connected to the operation that
federal prosecutors believe was launched in 1993. The number of charges and
verdicts was so lengthy the clerk paused halfway though to take a drink
before continuing with the reading that consumed about 40 minutes.

Charges included running a continuing criminal enterprise, possession of
cocaine with intent to distribute, conspiracy to possess cocaine, illegal
use of a telephone and traveling to promote cocaine trafficking.

Jurors, who had deliberated since Feb. 28, returned not guilty verdicts on
10 counts that included individual incidents of illegal phone use, travel
charges and an ammunition count.

Davis faces a mandatory life prison term under federal sentencing guidelines.

Several on the nine-man, three-woman jury occasionally glanced at Davis and
his fellow defendant Lionel McCoy, a Davis drug courier from Kansas City,
who they found guilty on six separate drug counts.

McCoy could get 10 years behind bars.

Davis' attorney J. Tony Serra, who had argued during the two-month trial
that his client was a successful record company owner singled out by
overzealous federal authorities, said the verdict was disappointing.

"This was a classic case of overkill by the government," said Serra, who
received a handshake and a hug from both defendants after the verdict was
read. "In the war on drugs, this was a case of executing the wounded."

Assistant U.S. attorney Mary Pougiales declined to comment on the verdict
as she discussed the case with some jurors after the proceeding.

Until his arrest in June 1998, Davis lived with his wife and two children
on Brandon Oaks Place. Unknown to his neighbors, Davis was being watched
from nearly the time he moved in.

A two-year investigation involving local and federal authorities churned
out reels of tapped phone calls, deciphered pager codes and video
surveillance. The evidence made up the bulk of the prosecution's case and
turned out to be the nail in the legal coffin for Davis, jurors said after
the conviction.

"The wiretap evidence was very incriminating," said juror Jonathan
Strickling of Antioch.

Juror James Campbell of Napa agreed. "The most damning evidence to me was
the overhear on the cell phone. That was pretty big."

Sentencing is scheduled for May 25.