Cocaine Ring Is Blamed in Slaying of Venice Activist

A violent cocaine ring that stretched from the Venice Shoreline Crips to associates in Atlanta and Baltimore was responsible for the killing of Venice community activist James Richards almost 17 months ago, according to Los Angeles police and a federal indictment released Tuesday.

Two murder suspects are in custody on charges related to the killing. A total of 22 people have been indicted on federal narcotics-related charges connected to the investigation of the case.

Richards, 55, was shot in front of his home in the Oakwood section of Venice in the early morning hours of Oct. 18, 2000. His death was quickly labeled an assassination by people close to the case.

The federal indictment supports that assessment, saying the conspirators killed Richards because they believed he “was reporting their narcotics activities to law enforcement.”

The indictment alleges that Maurice Brown, a suspect in the case who is in federal custody, and his associates were involved in a national cocaine distribution ring using a music company as a cover for some of their operations. The conspirators traveled by plane and strapped cocaine to their legs, the indictment alleges.

The indictment chronicles telephone calls between the alleged members of the conspiracy in which they discussed killing people who they believed were cooperating with law enforcement. It also says that the conspirators chatted about putting plastic on the floor of the music company’s offices to make sure bloodstains would not ruin things.

Richards was the publisher of Neighborhood News, an online newsletter that dealt with the area’s crime problems, and was known for listening assiduously to police scanners, sometimes arriving on crime scenes before police.

A member of several police-affiliated community groups and a Neighborhood Watch block captain, Richards was said to sometimes go so far as to take photographs of drug deals as they were happening. Shortly before his death, officers had warned him to “lie low,” police said.

Richards’ methods were sometimes controversial, but his death provoked a strong community reaction. The murder was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department and a multi-agency task force that has been examining drug dealing in the neighborhood. The task force included investigators from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service and Los Angeles Port Police.

So far in the case, Los Angeles police have arrested one of the suspected killers. Byron Lopez was arrested Feb. 26 on suspicion of teaming with rival gang members to kill Richards. Lopez is also being held on suspicion of murdering Juan Martinez, 21, in the 3300 block of Beethoven Street in the Venice area about two months after Richards was killed, LAPD officials said.

The 23-year-old man was charged with two counts of murder and one count involving possession of a firearm by a felon on Feb. 28, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney. His arraignment has been continued to March 25.

The second suspect, Brown, was identified in an indictment issued in September as among several people who shot Richards, according to federal officials.

Brown, whose age was not disclosed, is also facing a number of narcotics and weapons charges in connection with the conspiracy case.

The case is scheduled to go to trial in April, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles.

A third suspect in Richards’ murder, Antwon Jones, is dead, the LAPD said--killed last April in an unrelated gang assault in West Los Angeles.

Authorities said they would announce Brown’s arrest at a news conference today.