JURY CONVICTS LEADER OF DRUG RING

Courts: The Chino Hills man is guilty of running a criminal enterprise that
sent drugs across the nation.

Los Angeles-A federal jury convicted a 40-year-old man Wednesday of running
a drug trafficking ring that moved crack cocaine and heroin across the
country.

Michel "Bill" Withers of Chino Hills was found guilty of 11 felony charges,
including operating a continuing criminal enterprise that sent drugs to
cities including St. Louis, Atlanta, Memphis, Tenn., Louisville, Ky.,
Milwaukee and Richmond, Va., from 1994 to 1997.

That charge alone carries a mandatory 20-year prison sentence. He is
scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 7 by U.S. District Judge Manuel Real.

Three others convicted Wednesday of various drug-trafficking charges will
also be sentenced Dec. 7: Latrella Stevenson, 33, of Los Angeles, who is
the mother of Withers' child; James Edward Coleman, 59, of Los Angeles; and
Melvin Hudspath, 23, of Hesperia.

Jurors deliberated nearly five days after a month long trial. However, they
deadlocked 11-1 to convict Withers and his uncle, Johnny Ray Withers, 55,
also of Chino Hills, on two counts of money laundering.

Withers and his uncle will be retried on those charges Oct. 20, prosecutors
said.

The panel also acquitted Shannon Culver, 23, of Los Angeles of conspiracy
to distribute illegal drugs.

Withers' ring was uncovered during "Operation Desert Stop," an
investigation that targeted street-level drug dealers in south-central Los
Angeles and Mexican drug suppliers. The probe resulted in the arrests of 82
people, most of whom have been convicted, prosecutors said.

Desert Stop investigators also seized 30 kilograms of cocaine, 8 kilograms
of heroin, more than a pound of crack cocaine, 25 pounds of marijuana and
large amounts of methamphetameine.

The FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as police from Los
Angeles, Inglewood and South Gate, were involved in the investigation.

Copyright 1998 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski