TOULMINVILLE NATIVES TESTIFY AGAINST FORMER NEIGHBOR IN COCAINE TRIAL

A childhood chum of a recently convicted cocaine dealer collected newspaper
articles about his friend's legal woes, but now finds himself fighting
similar charges, federal prosecutors told jurors Tuesday in Mobile.

Willie B. Johnson -- "Willie B." to those who grew up with him in the
Toulminville neighborhood of north Mobile -- is accused of conspiring with
boyhood pals to run coke between Atlanta and Mobile. His case is part of an
ongoing federal investigation that has netted numerous other arrests.

Perhaps the biggest conviction so far is that of Frankie Miller, whom
federal jurors found guilty last November of distributing crack and
laundering money. A judge sentenced him in January to serve 30 years in prison.

Authorities needed three tries to get Miller before the charges stuck. The
U.S. attorney's office dropped indictments against him in 1995 and again in
1999, the second time partly due to the involvement of several Prichard
Police officers who have since been convicted of corruption charges.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Griffin told jurors Tuesday that Johnson's
role in the Miller ring began when he started picking up payments for
Miller but soon grew to distributing and then full-fledged dealing. In the
process, Johnson primarily moved among familiar circles, she said.

"He dealt close to the vest so that he would protect himself, so that he
would not have to appear in a courtroom like he is today," Griffin told
Johnson's jury.

After Miller's first arrest, Johnson began collecting newspaper clippings
about the investigation, Griffin said in her opening remarks, in which she
placed Johnson in a prominent role in the ring.

"You will see the inner workings of a significant drug organization, of
Willie Johnson's organization," Griffin said.

Willie Huntley, Johnson's lawyer, warned jurors that the government's main
witnesses were convicts looking to get lighter sentences by helping the
prosecution take down another target. Johnson, he said, worked to become a
successful businessman, the owner of a used-car dealership on Moffett Road.

"We've got witnesses who are going to tell you about the 'inner workings'
of the used-car business, and how far it can take you if you're good at it
and you work hard," Huntley said after Griffin sat down.

Johnson, a bald, mustachioed man in his mid-30s, wore a dark suit and
avoided eye contact with Griffin, the jurors and Orlando Kemp, the
prosecution's first witness.

Kemp, another Toulminville native, claimed Johnson gave him a large sum of
cash in 1995 to buy a kilogram of cocaine being sent from Atlanta. He said
he stashed the money in his mother's bedroom while he waited for a courier
to arrive with the drugs.

Kemp said the deal never happened because the woman carrying the drugs was
caught by Alabama State Troopers on Interstate 65. Johnson came by Kemp's
house to get his money back, Kemp said.

On cross-examination, Kemp struggled to recall details like what container
the money was in, and what denomination the bills were.

"Was it in a bag, was it in a sock, was it in a briefcase or a bookcase?"
Huntley asked lyrically.

"I don't know," Kemp said flatly.

Terrance Moral Chambers, once a good friend of Miller's, said Johnson once
approached him about buying a kilo of cocaine, and he agreed to sell it to
him for $25,000 after getting Miller's permission.

"He was Frankie Miller's client," Chambers said, by way of explanation.

Chambers, 39, known as "Sugar Man," pleaded guilty last summer to
conspiring with Miller and another man to distribute crack. He is set for
sentencing next month.

Testimony is expected to last through the end of the week.