District Man Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison for Crimes Committed as Part of the Congress Park Crew

Defendant Convicted of Killing Two People in August 1998

WASHINGTON—David Wilson, 34, of Washington, D.C., a leader of a violent drug gang, was sentenced today to 45 years and eight months in prison for his role in two murders and other crimes committed by the Congress Park Crew, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr.; James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Wilson, also known as Cool Wop, was sentenced this afternoon by the Honorable Judge Richard W. Roberts in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Wilson was one of six defendants prosecuted by the government during an eight-month trial in 2007 before Judge Roberts. During that trial, the government presented evidence that Wilson, along with his five co-defendants, Antwuan Ball, aka Big Ant; Gregory Bell, aka Boy-Boy; Joseph Jones, aka Jo-Jo; Dominic Samuels, aka Don; and Desmond Thurston, aka Daz, as well as others, were members of a crew that had engaged in a series of crimes, including crack cocaine dealing, armed robbery, attempted murder, and murder in the Congress Park neighborhood of Southeast Washington for more than a decade.

Since March of 2005, 18 individuals have been indicted in connection with this case. Wilson and his five-co-defendants were the final defendants remaining from the original March 2005 indictment. The others previously pled guilty or had been found guilty after trial.

The jury in this trial acquitted the six defendants of the charged conspiracy in this case, but convicted them on 18 other felony charges stemming from violence and drug-dealing.

Wilson was convicted of a total of 11 charges, including two counts of first degree murder while armed and various charges related to the distribution of cocaine. The murder charges stemmed from the August 17, 1998 slayings of Ronnie “Squid” Middleton and Sabrina Bradley.

Evidence showed that the killings were committed by Wilson as part of an ongoing turf war between the Congress Park Crew and one of its rivals, the 1-5 Mob.

According to the government’s evidence, Middleton, 27, was the intended target in the attack, which took place in the early morning hours in the 1500 block of Congress Place SE. Bradley, 26, who was Middleton’s girlfriend at the time, was an innocent bystander.

During the trial, the government established that the murders took place about the time that Wilson was beginning to assert himself as the crew’s leader.

Judge Roberts previously sentenced co-defendant Thurston to a prison term of 16 years and two months. He sentenced Bell to 16 years in prison, and Jones to a 15-year term. Ball is awaiting sentencing. The jury was unable to reach a verdict against Samuels in the August 2002 murder of Jamel Sills, aka Black. However, Samuels subsequently pled guilty to manslaughter while armed and was sentenced in 2008 to a seven-year prison term.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director in Charge McJunkin and Chief Lanier praised the collective and cooperative efforts of the law enforcement agencies that worked together to investigate and prosecute this complex case, including the MPD, the FBI/MPD Safe Streets Task Force, and the United States Park Police.

In addition, they commended the outstanding work of the special agents from the FBI’s Washington Field Office; MPD Detectives Anthony Brigidini, Kenneth Todd Williams, Constantinos “Gus” Giannakoulias, and Anthony Commodore; William Sepeck and Paul Edwards, of the U.S. Park Police, and Special Investigator Diane Eickman.

Also, they praised the staff at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist James Mazzitelli; Victim-Witness Advocate Yvonne Bryant; Victim-Witness Specialists Katina Adams, LaVerne Forrest and Debbie Cannon; Intelligence Specialists Frank Morgan, Larry Grasso and Shannon Alexis, and Legal Assistants Dianne Brashears, Carolyn Carter-McKinley, Patricia Hall, and Nadi Ishman. They also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Glenn S. Leon, Ann Petalas, and Gilberto Guerrero Jr., who prosecuted the case, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney M. Jeffrey Beatrice, who led the initial investigation.