INMATE TO SERVE COUNTY SENTENCE

A judge decided to keep Danny 'Gamble' Steele out of state prison for his
own protection from co-defendants.

Danny "Gamble" Steele doesn't have to worry about further retribution
from his co-defendants, Tysheem "Ty Boogie" Crocker and Melvin Shakem
"Fat Back" Bethune, in a 1997 street slaying during a showdown between
feuding drug-dealing crews.

A judge Monday sentenced the 21-year-old former New York resident to
2 1/2 to five years in prison - but is allowing Steele to complete
the minimum term in the county jail where he been an inmate for more
than 15 months.

Steele pleaded guilty July 7 to conspiracy to commit murder. His
sentencing had been postponed three times since Nov. 16.

Crocker and Bethune, largely due to the testimony of Steele during
their January trial, were convicted of first-degree murder and
immediately sentenced to the mandatory life in prison. They now are in
the state's correctional system.

Prisoners whose maximum sentences are two years or more normally are
transferred from the county jail to a state correctional facility. The
decision to protect Steele puts the full cost of his incarceration on
county taxpayers.

Common Pleas Judge John H. Chronister approved the agreement between
the district attorney's office and Steele's attorney, Public Defender
Bruce P. Blocher, for the county sentence. The purpose: keep Steele a
safe distance from Crocker and Bethune, who have threatened to harm
him as a snitch.

Steele was punched by an unidentified prisoner in a courthouse holding
cell while awaiting to testify against Crocker and Bethune during the
week-long trial. Since the verdicts, Steele has received anonymous
letters, allegedly from state prison inmates, threatening him with
harm for turning state's evidence in the homicide trial.

Chronister, who presided at the trial, noted that Steele cooperated
with the prosecution "to the best of his ability" and played a key
role in his co-conspirators' convictions. At the same time, according
to trial testimony, Steele's part in the conspiracy plan that resulted
in the death was of lesser degree.

The judge dismissed the criminal homicide charge against Steele and
closed a 1996 drug case for which Steele faced a parole violation.

The three men were arrested by York Police for the Oct. 5, 1997,
shooting death of 19-year-old Raymond Anthony "Skip" Clarke, 19, of
Queens, N.Y.

The victim was gunned down as he ran from a late night curbside dice
game that was interrupted by gunfire as Crocker, Bethune, Steele and
others of the "Cream Team" street gang descended upon their rival
crew, "The Gods." The factions, originating in New York City, battled
to control crack cocaine sales on East Maple Street in York.

Marjorie Clarke, the victim's mother, came to York for Steele's
sentencing. Standing six feet to Steele's side as he stood for sentencing,
the mother reminded Steele that her son's blood is on "all of you,"
referring to the three defendants and others who took part in the attack.

"You caused me to lose my only child," the mother told Steele.
"Raymond was a good kid. He made a lot of mistakes but his mistakes
didn't mean he had to die because of you."

She continued, "I had hopes for my son but, because of you and your
friends, my hopes and dreams went down the drain."

Clarke asked Steele if he knows what it is like to work 80 hours a

week to care for a child only to lose him at the hands of an assassin.

"You can make all the deals that you want to make," Clarke told the
defendant. "It is not going to give me back my child nor will all of
your excuses. If I could walk out of here with my son, I would take it
and never look back. As I said, you and your friends caused me to lose
my only child. I can't argue with the deal you made. I had no part in
it but my son's blood is on all of you."

Steele stood handcuffed and shackled, looking at the victim's mother
as she addressed him, but said nothing in reply. He is alleged to have
armed the seven or eight "Cream Team" attackers, some of which were
brought to York from New York within hours of the shooting.

Steele denies having fired the two shots from a .40 caliber handgun
that hit Clarke in the back, mortally wounding him at McKenzie Street
and Pleasant Way. Other bullets of the same caliber entered the
bedroom of a house in the same area.