The leader of a violent Memphis-based drug organization that
teamed with Mexico's Beltran Leyva cartel to distribute drugs throughout the South was sentenced to nine life sentences in federal prison Thursday. Petties secretly pleaded guilty in December 2009 to racketeering, money laundering, drug trafficking and
ordering the slayings of four men he perceived as snitches or threats to the organization. His plea was not disclosed until February 2011.
Petties built a multistate drug ring that operated from 1995 to 2008. Cocaine and marijuana were shipped from Mexico to Memphis in semi -trucks, then distributed for sale in Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia and North Carolina.
Petties fled to Mexico after his 2002 indictment. He was
placed on the U.S. Marshals Service 15 Most-Wanted List and his case was featured on the 'America's Most Wanted' television program before his capture in January 2008.
Two of Petties' henchmen, cousins Clinton Lewis and Martin Lewis, were convicted in March 2012 of being enforcers for the organization. They were also sentenced to life in prison. About
70 witnesses testified and 300 pieces of evidence were admitted during their trial, one of the largest federal drug trials ever held in Tennessee. During the sentencing hearing, Mays called Petties' crimes reprehensible.
In all, Petties received nine life sentences, plus more than 60 years in prison. He is not eligible for parole, though he can appeal the sentences.
During the Lewises' trial, prosecutor David Pritchard said in his closing arguments that Petties worked directly for Edgar Valdez Villarreal, a Texas-born man known as 'La Barbie.' Valdez is suspected of using extreme violence as he tried to seize control of the Beltran Leyva cartel following the death of gang leader Arturo Beltran Leyva. He was arrested in 2010. After fleeing to Mexico, Petties gave orders to gang members via cellphone. He pleaded guilty to ordering the killings of Mario McNeal, Latrell Small, Mario Stewart and Marcus Turner.
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