July 24, 2007 Maryland
Drug dealers James Moore and Walter Babbs sentenced to life in prison

U.S. District Judge Andre M. Davis sentenced James Moore, age 43, of Andrews, South Carolina, and Walter Babbs, age 37, of Greensboro, North Carolina today to life in prison for conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 50 grams or more of crack cocaine; and conspiracy to possess and possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Moore was also sentenced to 35 consecutive years in prison for possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, specifically the shooting of Willie Anthony Robinson and Alexandria Angeline Withers.

U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said, "The conspirators' plan to get away with two murders was foiled as a result of remarkable work by Maryland State Police troopers who stopped their car and found the victims' bodies in the trunk. I am grateful to the investigators and prosecutors who brought the perpetrators to justice."

According to evidence presented during their three week trial, from September 2002 to August 2004, Moore and Babbs conspired to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine. Willie Anthony Robinson supplied the defendants with the drugs since January 2003. On November 6, 2003 Maryland state troopers stopped a car driven by Moore on Interstate Interstate 95 in Cecil County, Maryland for a traffic violation. Co-conspirator Porsha Harper was a passenger in the car. The troopers found the dead bodies of Robinson and Alexandria Angeline Withers in the car's trunk. The car had been stolen from Robinson. Robinson and Withers had been shot and killed the previous day. The troopers seized $100,380 from a passenger compartment of the vehicle and $2,000 from Moore, which had been taken from the victims. Moore was taking the bodies to New York where he intended to conceal his involvement and that of his co-conspirators in the murders by abandoning the car and setting it on fire. Moore also possessed over 40 money wrappers, and documents on which were written the phone numbers and names of conspirators, including Babbs.

From November 7, 2003 to March, 2004 calls were made to and from Babbs cell phone and the Cecil County Detention Center where Moore was incarcerated. In early 2004 and again in March, 2004, a conspirator traveled from Maryland to Greensboro, North Carolina to meet Babbs. Babbs provided the conspirator with crack and cash which was used and distributed back in Maryland.

Co-conspirator Porsha Lashawn Harper, age 40, of Greensboro, North Carolina previously pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with the case and was sentenced to 30 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Harper was also ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the Maryland State Police for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys John F. Purcell and Debra Dwyer, who prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice