Opinion ID: 1463584
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Hatcher-Thomas-Hunter Family Enterprise

Text: Hatcher and Thomas, along with others to whom they referred as family or street family ( see, e.g., Trial Transcript (Tr.) 548, 1172), began selling cocaine in East New York in the mid-1980s, initially selling powder cocaine and then switching to crack cocaine in 1987 because it was more profitable. In 1985, Thomas, then 15 years of age, introduced Hunter to Hatcher, whom Thomas always . . . considered a boss (Tr. 1499). Hatcher invited Hunter to join my family, which meant [s]hoot, sell drugs, whatever's necessary. ( Id. at 556.) Hunter at first worked for Hatcher as a lookout, protecting the workers who were selling drugs; he was soon made manager of drug-selling spots. The income from crack sales at one of those spots totaled as much as $20,000 to $25,000 a day; for managing that spot, Hatcher paid Hunter $3,000 to $8,000 a week. Payne, often referred to by the cooperating witnesses as A, joined the family as Thomas's lieutenant in about 1995. ( See id. at 1175, 1612.) His responsibilities included putting the cocaine provided by Thomas into retail sale packages, getting the cocaine to the workers and keeping them supplied, and collecting the proceeds of the sales. ( See id. at 1318-20.) On occasion, when Thomas had not bought the necessary cocaine, he would have Payne purchase it. ( See id. at 1319.) As weekly compensation for his work as lieutenant, Thomas allowed Payne to keep the profits from one day's drug sales, usually about $1,200. ( See id. at 1320-21.) Thomas fired Payne as lieutenant after about a year, but Payne remained a member of the family and became, inter alia, an enforcer. For example, as described in Part I.A.1, below, in 1997, complying with an order from Thomas (Tr. 704), Payne shot and killed a worker who had been stealing from Thomas and sleeping with Thomas's girlfriend. In 1998, Hunter introduced Payne to Hatcher (who had been in prison since 1991) as my man, a shooter ( id. at 703), a [n]ew shooter in the family ( id. at 704). Beginning in 2000, Payne also operated as a crack cocaine dealer, selling his own supplies, at a family spot. ( See id. at 740-43.) In addition, about once a month from late 2000 until May 2002, Payne sold bulk quantitiesapproximately 125 gramsof crack to Hatcher. ( See id. at 748, 752-53.) Thomas testified that family members made money together and hustled together, meaning that they would [s]ell drugs together (Tr. 1172), although the family structure was not particularly hierarchical. Thomas identified more than a dozen family members ( see id. at 1175-76) all of whom were allowed to operate in family spots ( see, e.g., id. at 1177)and as a general matter, each member who sold drugs retained the profits from his own sales. Describing this as eat[ing] what you kill ( id. at 1180), Thomas testified that the family operated in this manner for ease of administration: There's too many of us to all try to put all the money in one pot. Q. Were you still a family at that point, even though you were eating what you were killing? A. Yes. ( Id. at 1641-42.) Although they did not pool their profits, members of the family looked out for each other, meaning that if one of us was broke, another one would give out some money ( id. at 1172). In addition, the family supported its members who were arrested or in prison. Hunter and Hatcher, who spent various parts of the 1985-2003 period in prison, were prime examples. When Hunter was arrested in 1989, Thomas raised money to bail him out because that's what we do for each other. (Tr. 1263.) While Hunter was thereafter imprisoned, Hatcher continued to provide him with proceeds from drug sales because Hunter was part of my family, so he's gonna get money regardless, whether he was in jail or out of jail. ( Id. at 630-31.) When Hatcher himself went to prison in 1991, Hunter bought his drug spots for $70,000 and made additional payments totaling approximately $200,000 to Hatcher's wife and father while Hatcher was serving his sentence. ( See id. at 682.) When Hunter was imprisoned again in 1994-1996, Thomas provided Hunter's wife and brother with money for Hunter because family take[s] care of each other ( id. at 1312-13). When Hunter was released from prison in 1996, Thomas and Payne took him shopping and bought him a motorcycle ( see id. at 1326); and some two months later, Thomas made Hunter a partner in his drug operation because Hunter was part of the family and we always said [if] you don't have money, come back to the block ( id. at 1327). When Thomas and Hunter operated as partners, the center of their operations was the corner of Georgia and Hegeman Avenues and an adjacent block along Hegeman (Georgia/Hegeman). Pooling their money for bulk purchasing of crack cocaine, one or the other would make a purchase from a supplier, and each would divide half of the amount purchased into salable packages. Thomas and Hunter then alternated sale days, each selling his half of the crack (through the workers they shared), and retaining the proceeds of the sales made on his own day. ( See, e.g., id. at 1327, 1388.) In 1999, Thomas and Hunter had a falling out, and their partnership ended. Hatcher became Thomas's new partner, and as partners they operated in the same way that Thomas and Hunter had. Thomas and Hatcher alternated days selling crack at Georgia/Hegeman, sharing the workers who did the actual selling, and using some of the same locations to stash their narcotics supplies and their guns. ( See Tr. 740-41, 1417-24.) Thomas testified that he and Hatcher did not always operate as partners, but they were always part of the family. ( See id. at 1588.) The hours during which Thomas and Hatcher sold crack at Georgia/Hegeman were approximately 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Beginning in 2000, Thomas, Hatcher, and Payne agreed that Payne and workers he hired would sell at that spot at night after 10 p.m., and that Payne would retain the proceeds of his sales. ( See id. at 740, 743, 748, 1427-28, 1436.) Payne discussed his operations with Thomas, telling Thomas that he kept his drug supplies and guns at the homes of his girlfriends and some of his sellers ( see id. at 1426-27), and that he obtained some of his supplies by robbing other drug dealers of drugs and money ( see id. at 1376, 1423). When Payne stole drugs, he sold half and gave the other half to Hatcher. ( See id. at 1423.)
Payne's position as Thomas's lieutenant had lasted until sometime in 1996 ( see Tr. 1322), when Thomas's friend Eric Sui Clemons returned from prison and sought to join the drug distribution operation ( see id. at 1324). Thomas was dissatisfied with Payne's work as a lieutenant because the sellers would run out of drugs to sell and Payne was lax about replenishing their supplies. Accordingly, in 1996, Thomas replaced Payne in that position with Clemons. ( See id. ) Thomas testified that Payne stayed around, however, available to help if we needed him for something or if something happened. ( Id. at 1325; see also id. at 1172 (members of the family protected each other, meaning that if [s]omebody d[id] something to one of us, the rest of us would go looking for the person and do something to him to retaliate); id. at 1326-28 (Payne's services to Thomas's drug distribution operation after Payne was fired as Thomas's lieutenant were sufficiently valuable that Hunter, after becoming Thomas's partner in that operation, tried unsuccessfully to persuade Thomas that the partnership's profits should be split three ways, to include Payne).) Payne was upset at being replaced as Thomas's lieutenant (Tr. 704, 1325); Payne also believed that Clemons was a snitch because Clemons had gone to jail at the same time as his codefendants, and only Clemons had been released ( see id. at 1325). Hunter, who was released from prison in 1996 after Clemons had succeeded Payne, also believed demons was a snitch and expressed that view to Thomas ( see id. at 1328). In early 1997, Thomas realized that someone was stealing cocaine from his operation; he at first suspected Billy Lopez, who sold for Thomas and in whose Hegeman Avenue home Thomas stashed cocaine until it could be individually packaged and distributed. Thereafter, however, noticing that demons was spending money lavishly, Thomas realized that it was Clemons who was stealing from him. Also in 1997, Thomas became aware that his girlfriend was having an affair with Clemons. To punish Clemons for showing such disrespect for him, Thomas shot Clemons in the leg. Thomas described these events to Payne and Hunter, who reiterated their belief that Clemons was also a snitch. ( See Tr. 1338-39.) Thomas testified that Payne advised him that, for disrespecting him, Clemons should be killed. Thomas agreed and he, Hunter, and Payne promptly armed themselves and prepared to kill Clemons. ( See id. at 1340-41.) Thomas telephoned Lisa Toney, the woman with whom Clemons had been staying after returning from prison. Thomas told her that Clemons had been stealing from him and was sleeping with Thomas's girlfriend; he also disclosed that Clemons had yet another girlfriend as well. Thomas asked Toney to let him know when she learned Clemons's whereabouts. Toney soon informed Thomas that Clemons would shortly be arriving at her home by taxi. Hunter then drove Thomas and Payne to Toney's address in time to intercept Clemons. As Clemons attempted to exit the cab, Thomas approached from one side and Payne approached from the other. ( See Tr. 1346-47.) Payne lean[ed] into the car and shot Clemons [a]t least six or seven times ( id. at 1347-48); Clemons died from his wounds ( see id. at 1358). Thomas and Payne fled in the car driven by Hunter. ( See id. at 1349.) Hatcher was in prison at the time of the Clemons murder, but Hunter informed him of it. When Hatcher was released in June 1998, Hunter and Payne picked him up, and Hunter introduced Payne as the [n]ew shooter in the family ( id. at 704). Hatcher and Payne thereafter had several discussions about the details of the murder. Hatcher testified that Payne said he was glad [w]hen `Boo' gave the order for [Clemons] to be killed, because Payne had never liked Clemons and had been upset when Thomas gave Clemons Payne's job as lieutenant. ( Id. )
Tacuma Kinsey was the brother of one of Payne's girlfriends. In April 1998, Kinsey's friend Michael Johnson, who worked for an armored car company that picked up money from a K-Mart store, devised a plan to steal the money. Johnson provided Payne and Kinsey with company uniforms, and Payne and Kinsey went to K-Mart posing as armored car guards. ( See Tr. 1111-16.) K-Mart employees handed Kinsey bags containing checks and approximately $100,000 in cash. Returning to Johnson's house, Payne, Kinsey, and Johnson divided the money, with Kinsey and Payne each receiving $30,000, and Johnson receiving the rest. ( See id. at 1116-17.) Kinsey returned home and hid most of his share in his closet. Payne had previously described the K-Mart plan to Thomas, but he did not disclose his participation in the eventual robbery. When Hunter learned of the K-Mart robbery, he and Payne told Thomas that Kinsey had robbed the K-Mart without them. ( See id. at 1385-86.) Hunter, angry that Kinsey had excluded Hunter (and, he believed, Payne) from participation in that lucrative robbery, decided that Kinsey himself should be robbed. Thus, at about 4 a.m. the following morning, Payne and Hunter (and a third man whom Kinsey did not recognize) broke into Kinsey's room ( see id. at 1119-20). They held Kinsey at gunpoint, tied him up, and beat him, repeatedly hitting him in the face with a gun, and stole his hidden stash of K-Mart money. ( See id. at 1120-22.)
Pedro Newton was a friend with whom Thomas had grown up. In January 2000, Newton acquired 100 grams of heroin from some Colombians, and he asked Thomas to help him find a buyer. Since Thomas did not deal in heroin, he introduced Newton to Henry Boobie Harley, who bought the heroin from Newton for $7,000. ( See Tr. 1390-95.) After making that sale to Boobie, Newton told Thomas and Boobie that Newton would soon have an additional 600 grams of heroin and that he hoped Boobie would buy that too. Boobie, however, decided that Newton should be robbed of the 600 grams of heroin, rather than paid for it ( see id. at 1395-96), and he wanted Newton killed in order to avoid any retaliation for the robbery ( see id. at 1978). After Boobie told Thomas of his plan, Thomas enlisted Hatcher to rob and kill Newton ( see id. at 728). Hatcher enlisted Payne, who had become Hatcher's robbing buddy ( id. at 729); and Payne and Hatcher then persuaded Thomas that they should rob [Newton] before `Boobie' and them get to rob him ( id. at 1398). To implement their plan, Thomas told Newton that Hatcher would buy the 600 grams of heroin, which Newton was to bring to Billy Lopez's house on January 27, 2000. When Newton arrived, Thomas escorted Newton to the basement, where Payne and Hatcher were hiding. Payne jumped out from behind a wall, put a gun to Newton's head, and ordered him to the floor; Thomas grabbed Newton's bag of heroin and ran back upstairs. ( See Tr. 732, 1402-03.) As Newton was lying on the floor with Payne's gun pointed at his head, Hatcher shot Newton in the base of the skull. ( See id. at 732-33.) Thomas thereafter sold Newton's heroin to Boobie for $30-$45,000. The proceeds were split among Thomas, Hatcher, and Payne, with Payne receiving $13,000. ( See id. at 738, 1412.)