Yesterday, Bey, 41, of South Philadelphia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to tamper with witnesses before U.S. District Judge Norma Shapiro, in exchange for dropping four counts of witness tampering.
As part of his plea agreement, he is not cooperating with law enforcement and may face less than 10 years in prison.
Bey, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence in the 2005 case, could have faced 100 more years in prison if convicted at trial of all five counts.He now faces a maximum of 20 years in the federal pen, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy charge.
His attorney, Arnold Joseph, estimated that Bey's sentencing guidelines may be about four to six years in prison. Bey's sentencing is set for May 27.
Joseph said he and his client believe that Shapiro will be "fair" and consider that Bey was given an additional 42 months for making the same threats when he was sentenced in the 2005 case.
Before the judge entered the court, Bey dismissed the violent threats as "braggadocio," blaming them on being jailed at the Federal Detention Center for "23 and one" - 23 hours of lockdown and one hour for a shower and exercise.
But when he suggested to Shapiro that the murderous threats were just "exaggerations," the judge quizzed him about whether he wanted to plead guilty. He told her he was guilty of the conspiracy count.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Troyer later said the evidence of the four counts of witness tampering was the same as the evidence in the conspiracy.
Troyer outlined the case against Bey, who admitted to a conspiracy with Savage in which they threatened to kill numerous witnesses to prevent their testimony at the 2005 trial.
Bey sent messages twice to Savage's former top drug aide, Eugene "Twin" Coleman, not to testify.
