SOUTHWEST DRUG GANG PREPARES TO TESTIFY AGAINST D.C. OFFICER

Tapes Don't Show Alleged Informant

Off and on for more than a decade, federal agents focused on a drug gang
run by Erskine "Pee Wee" Hartwell, conducting surveillance on its Southwest
Washington stronghold and squeezing informants for details on the crack,
heroin and marijuana operation.

The first probe, by the FBI, ran from 1989 through 1993 and yielded no
indictments. But it did turn up evidence that linked Hartwell, now 32, to
two homicides and five other shootings.

By early 1998, D.C. police trying to shut down Hartwell's operation in the
unit block of Forrester Street SW called in the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration. During that spring and summer, DEA agents arranged for drug
buys from Hartwell's crew and audiotaped the exchanges. They watched gang
members and even set up a video camera over a car lot Hartwell owned.

D.C. police could never shut down Hartwell and his gang, who seemed to stay
a step ahead of them.

Now federal prosecutors allege that Hartwell and his gang had help from one
of his longtime friends--D.C. Officer Andrew James McGill Jr., who joined
the police department a year after the first investigations of Hartwell began.

Although McGill didn't surface as a suspect until late 1998--as the DEA was
ending its probe--his trial that opens today in U.S. District Court in
Greenbelt has become the heart of the government's case. Hartwell and other
gang members have pleaded guilty to drug, money laundering and other
charges and Hartwell admitted his involvement in the killings. He and other
gang members agreed to testify against McGill as part of their plea agreements.

Court records indicate that much of the case Assistant U.S. Attorney Stuart
A. Berman will present will come from Hartwell and two or three top gang
leaders.

David Cole, a professor at Georgetown Law School with a background in
criminal defense work, said many cases involving drug gangs are "based on
the testimony of shady characters who have pleaded guilty and agreed to
testify."

Prosecutors often gain convictions on such cases, Cole said. But "it makes
for a highly defensible case, where there's no smoking gun. It will depend
on what kind of witnesses the prosecution has and how they come across on
the stand."

According to court records and McGill's attorney, investigators never saw
McGill buy or sell drugs, never audiotaped or videotaped him doing anything
illegal, and never searched his house or police locker.

They didn't even suspect McGill until 18 months after he was transferred
out of the 7th Police District, where the drug ring operated.

In court papers filed by the government, Hartwell is portrayed as being
eager to cooperate with investigators after his May 17, 1999, arrest,
saying he could set up large drug seizures. But if Hartwell said anything
then about a dirty cop, it was not included in the court papers.

Prosecutors allege that McGill, 29, tipped off Hartwell's gang about police
raids, helped steal the truck of former Washington Wizard Ben Wallace and
then cruised around in it, accepted cash and stolen car parts from the drug
organization, and lied to a federal grand jury about his knowledge of
Hartwell's drug dealing.

McGill's attorney, William C. Brennan, said DEA agents captured some of the
drug gang's activities in audiotapes, videotapes and still photos--but that
none shows McGill. "There may be hours and hours of surveillance that do
not show my client," Brennan said.

In an attempt to find out more about the government's evidence, Brennan
filed a motion in late February asking U.S. District Judge Deborah K.
Chasanow to order prosecutors to provide specific allegations.

Brennan noted that a key 40-page affidavit filed May 17, 1999, by DEA Agent
Christopher B. Hoffman in support of applications for search warrants for
14 homes and businesses in Maryland and the District "makes no mention of
McGill, McGill's home, McGill's automobiles, McGill's girlfriend or even
that a Metropolitan police officer is involved in the case."

The first indictments of eight drug gang members, including Hartwell, were
returned the same month. McGill was not named.

But a federal grand jury continued to investigate Hartwell's organization.
McGill appeared before the grand jury in August and was asked whether he
ever told Hartwell about police activity aimed at 37 Forrester St. SW, the
house Hartwell used as the center of his drug operation, according to court
records.

McGill was also asked if he ever bought marijuana or cocaine from Denard
"Den Den" Hartwell, a cousin of Erskine Hartwell's. McGill denied ever
tipping off the group to police activity or buying drugs from the group.
And in doing so, prosecutors allege that McGill committed perjury.

McGill is one of two D.C. police officers who allegedly perjured themselves
in grand jury testimony about the Hartwell drug gang. Victor Kelly Jr., 32,
who has resigned from the force, pleaded guilty in March to perjuring
himself before the grand jury. He was sentenced yesterday by Chasanow to
two years' probation, including six months of home detention, and 100 hours
of community service.

Asquith Haynes, who pleaded guilty to being part of the Hartwell drug
conspiracy, was sentenced by Chasanow yesterday to two years in prison and
five years' supervised release. Federal immigration authorities will assume
custody of Haynes after he serves his time and will probably deport him to
his native Barbados, officials said.