Kingpin

Chanell Cunningham, whose testimony helped convict her kingpin boyfriend of murder, was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in prison by a federal judge who said she spent years "styling and profiling" as a high-living underworld drug moll. U.S. District Judge Curtis Joyner, in pointed comments to a courtroom packed with family members and friends, told Cunningham that were it not for her cooperation, he would have sentenced her to more than 30 years in prison. He described the 37-year-old mother of two as a "major officer" and "vice president of personnel" for the multimillion-dollar cocaine-distribution network set up by her lover, Maurice Phillips.

Two-Face was stoned-faced yesterday as a federal jury in Camden delivered a verdict that could send him to prison for the rest of his life. Juan "Two-Face" Rivera-Velez, 35, showed no reaction as the jury foreman announced four consecutive guilty verdicts, capping nearly eight days of deliberations in a high-profile narcotics trial in U.S. District Court in Camden. Rivera-Velez, nicknamed after his face was disfigured in an auto accident several years ago, was charged with carrying out one murder and attempting a second for convicted Camden drug kingpin Raymond Morales.

The dwindling band of moviegoers who cling to the quaint belief that screenplays should be written on paper rather than bathroom walls emerged numbed and shaken from Dumb and Dumber. But at least they knew that a director would have to go to a landfill with a shovel to come up with anything worse. Peter and Bobby Farrelly, the still unindicted co-conspirators behind Dumb and Dumber, took an earth-mover and dug down until they hit Kingpin, a movie that redefines box office gross.

A founder and boss of the violent Junior Black Mafia drug gang was jailed for life yesterday for overseeing the sale of more than a ton of cocaine on city streets during a six-year reign. Aaron "A.J. " Jones, 30, chose to say nothing before the mandatory life sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Marvin Katz. Jones, who is awaiting trial for murder in the state courts, is the second JBM "kingpin" to draw a life sentence for drug dealing. A codefendant, Bryan "Moochie" Thornton, 29, was jailed for life last month by Katz.

Chanell Cunningham, former paramour and business partner of drug kingpin Maurice Phillips and among those who testified against him at his trial in February, reaped her reward yesterday. U.S. District Judge Curtis Joyner sentenced Cunningham to 12 years. Had Cunningham, who has been in federal custody since September 2007, not cooperated, Joyner said he would have sentenced her to 30 years. Cunningham chose not to address the court yesterday but had sent Joyner a letter before sentencing.

Chanell Cunningham, an admitted drug dealer whose testimony helped convict her kingpin boyfriend of murder and cocaine trafficking charges, was sentenced to 12 years in prison Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Curtis Joyner. Joyner described Cunningham as the "vice president of personnel" for a multimillion dollar cocaine distribution network. "You lived constantly, day-to-day, as a major officer in this conspiracy," the judge said. Cunningham, 37, was a key prosecution witness in the case against Maurice Phillips who was found guilty earlier this year of two murders and various drug, conspiracy and money-laundering charges.

A jury yesterday convicted reputed Junior Black Mafia kingpin Aaron Jones of the Nov. 3 stabbing and wounding of a fellow inmate at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center. Jones, 27, was found guilty of aggravated assault for the attack on Parrish Barnes. A weapons possession charge against Jones was dismissed. Co-defendant Michael Anderson also was convicted of aggravated assault in the attack. Jones' attorney, Gerald Stein, said he plans to appeal. He said the verdict was "inconsistent" and "didn't make any sense" because Jones was found guilty of the stabbing, yet innocent of possessing a weapon.

IN JANUARY, the former live-in girlfriend of drug kingpin Alton "Ace Capone" Coles gasped and fell to the floor after she was sentenced to two years behind bars on money-laundering charges. Yesterday, Asya Richardson's attorney said her client was "relieved, overjoyed and grateful" after a federal appeals court here threw out the conviction. The three-judge panel, which said the evidence was "insufficient" to support a guilty verdict against Richardson, vacated the conviction and sent the case back to district court for acquittal.

Anthony James Zasa Jr. was a model citizen and family man, devoted to helping troubled young people. As a leader in VisionQuest, a national youth rehabilitation organization, Zasa worked with hundreds of teens at facilities in Franklin and Chambersburg, Pa.; New Lisbon, N.J.; and Tucson, Ariz. He led a modest, "squeaky-clean life" over his 25 years in the company, sometimes serving alongside his wife and sons, also VisionQuest employees, said friends and former coworkers. But federal authorities said Zasa had a darker side as a key member of another organization - one that was wrecking lives.

Robert "Cush" Smith, the millionaire businessman, didn't mind getting his hands dirty once in a while. There was the time, for instance, when he donned an Army fatigue jacket, khaki pants and a hooded sweatshirt, stuck a 9mm pistol in his belt, and went out to hunt down and kill a competitor. And there was the time that this man, who owned mansions and fancy cars and a stable of horses, took time out of his busy schedule to hogtie an employee named Speedy to teach him a few lessons about ethics.

KABONI SAVAGE, a once-ruthless North Philly drug kingpin who was recorded cackling and celebrating murders, had nothing to say yesterday when a federal judge formally sentenced him to death. Following a three-month trial, Savage, 38, was convicted last month of ordering or carrying out 12 murders, arson, racketeering and witness retaliation. His crimes spanned from 1998 - when he fatally shot his first victim over a fender-bender accident - to 2004 - when Savage ordered the firebombing of a house that killed six relatives of a man scheduled to testify against him in a drug case.

Drug kingpin Kaboni Savage sat at his defense table, bowing his head between his arms, as a video recording of his mother was played at his murder trial Tuesday. Savage, a former boxer accused of committing or directing 12 murders while running a sprawling drug network, blew his nose and wiped his eyes with a tissue after the 20-minute video concluded. The video was a Jan. 3 recording of Barbara Savage testifying about the events leading up to the fatal October 2004 firebombing her son is accused of ordering.

KABONI SAVAGE, the convicted drug dealer facing the death penalty if also convicted of committing or ordering 12 murders, on Monday was portrayed by his attorneys and girlfriend as a good-natured man - even while threatening the girlfriend. It was the first day of the defense team's presentation of its case to the jury after federal prosecutors rested last week, capping 2 1/2 months of testimony. "We got a bond for life. I'd kill you before I let you go," Savage, 38, who is serving 30 years in federal prison for drug conspiracy, reportedly told Crystal Copeland during a phone call recorded by authorities.

AS A FEDERAL prosecutor on Monday laid out a chilling case against Kaboni Savage, a once-feared North Philadelphia drug kingpin now on trial for 12 murders, some jurors looked pained by what they heard during the first day's proceedings. Savage, who could receive the death penalty, at times smiled as he whispered to his attorney, Christian J. Hoey. Savage, 37, jotted pages of notes on a yellow legal pad as Assistant U.S. Attorney David Troyer told the jurors of the murders the defendant had allegedly committed, of the slayings he's accused of ordering and of the threats he'd allegedly made against the lives of his enemies.

Tom Hayes, one of two former UBS AG traders charged by U.S. prosecutors, is portrayed by American regulators as the kingpin of a three-year campaign that succeeded in manipulating global interest rates. Hayes, 33, was charged with wire fraud and price-fixing, the Department of Justice said in a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday. The trader and Roger Darin, a former short-term interest-rates trader at UBS whose responsibilities included the firm's Libor quotes in yen, were also charged with conspiracy.

A NORTH PHILLY drug kingpin got a life sentence Tuesday in federal court for running a large-scale drug-trafficking organization that involved his wife and mother-in-law. Alexander "Reds" Rivera's gang operated in a troubled Kensington neighborhood from February 2006 to September 2010. The gang controlled drug distribution around Indiana Avenue and Lawrence Street and in other areas of the city. Rivera, 30, obtained cocaine, crack, heroin and PCP that he and his co-defendants then peddled on the street.

Ind. Democrats stall labor bill INDIANAPOLIS - Democrats determined to keep Indiana from becoming the first state in more than a decade to enact right-to-work legislation stymied the beginning of the House session Wednesday and said they planned to stall work indefinitely. Most Indiana House Democrats were no-shows on the floor Wednesday when Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma tried three times to gavel the House to order. He plans to try again Thursday and said a Democratic boycott won't lead Republicans to back off on the bill.