2 Cocaine Suppliers Get Lengthy Sentences

Two Los Angeles men who police say supplied large quantities of rock cocaine to several Crips street gang factions were sentenced Wednesday to lengthy federal prison terms.

Police described the 132 pounds of cocaine seized last May as the largest cache of the drug taken from outright gang members or associates.

Michael Ray Ector, 25, identified by authorities as a long-time associate of the West Los Angeles-based Playboy Gangster Crips, was handed a 20-year sentence by U.S. District Judge Laughlin E. Waters. Andre Jackson, 21, who had no previous criminal convictions, received a 15-year term.

The pair were arrested last May when police, acting on a tip from a jailed drug dealer, served a search warrant on a West 76th Street house and discovered 60 1-kilogram bags of cocaine inside. The fingerprints of Ector, who was in the house when police served the warrant, were discovered on 10 of the bags. Jackson was arrested when he returned to the residence during the search.

Pleaded Guilty

Ector, whose gang nickname was “Money Mike,” eventually pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for distribution and a second count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

Jackson, whose 10-year-old sister was killed in an unrelated 1987 random drive-by shooting, was convicted by a federal jury on the same two charges.

Both men had faced minimum 10-year sentences under federal law because of the large quantity of drugs.

Satisfied With Sentences

Assistant U.S. Atty. Janet C. Hudson, who prosecuted the case, said she was satisfied with the sentences.

“I think the court was very aware of the fact we’ve got a serious drug problem that is getting much, much worse. We have to crack down, and increased sentences are about the only option if we are ever going to make any kind of a dent.”

A third defendant, Ector’s half-brother Alonzo Troy Andrus, 19, faces retrial Feb. 7. A mistrial was declared in Andrus’ first trial when a jury was unable to reach a verdict.