Drug trafficker Kaboni Savage indicted for 'cold-blooded' killings

THE KING of Witness Intimidation, convicted drug trafficker Kaboni Savage, 34, was accused yesterday of being a serial killer.

A federal grand jury put the finishing touches on a long-awaited racketeering indictment charging Savage and his three top alleged hit men with fatally shooting 12 people, wounding another and threatening to kill others while running a multimillion-dollar drug network between 1997 and 2007, some of which was orchestrated from behind bars.

U.S. Attorney Laurie Magid called the 12 homicides "cold-blooded, calculated murders."

"In New York, you had Albert Anastasia with Murder, Inc. Here, you have Kaboni Savage with the equivalent of Murder Inc.," said a law-enforcement source who is familiar with the investigation.

The worst act of witness intimidation occurred Oct. 9, 2004, recalled Deputy Police Commissioner Richard Ross, who said that he can still visualize the "shock and dismay" on the faces of neighbors, cops and firefighters who were at the scene of the dawn massacre.

A federal witness' screaming mother, son and four others were trapped and killed inside a gasoline-soaked North Philadelphia home, set ablaze by Savage's top hit men, Lamont "Mont" Lewis, 32, and Robert Merritt Jr., 28, according to the indictment.

The witness, Eugene "Twin" Coleman, was once Savage's right-hand man but ended up testifying against him at his 2005 federal trial.

After ordering the arson-murders, Magid said, "Savage laughed when he told an associate they should put barbecue sauce on the victims."

"Savage vowed to kill other kids" of associates-turned-witnesses, Magid said, quoting him as saying: "I dream of cutting their heads off."

In the so-called "toilet tapes" played at his drug trial, Savage spouted venomous threats about killing guards, FBI agents, rivals and their families. The FBI put a recording device in Savage's cell at Federal Detention Center by his toilet, which inmates use to communicate with those in other cells when the toilets are flushed.

According to the indictment, Savage killed one person and ordered the slayings of 10 others. (See accompanying story, this page.)

Savage is already serving a 30-year federal prison term in the Supermax federal prison in Florence, Colo., for operating a violent, multimillion-dollar cocaine-trafficking ring.

Savage's attorney, Christopher Warren, who filed an appeal in the drug trial, said that his client has always denied involvement in the house fire, and denies the other allegations as well.

Warren blamed the federal prosecutors of "unnecessary overkill" with this indictment and said the government's witnesses were killers who were "swapping their places" on the lethal-injection gurney with Savage.

Savage, Lewis and Merritt are charged with tampering with and retaliating against witnesses and with using fire to commit a felony.

Savage also is charged with 11 counts of murder in the aid of racketeering and one count of conspiracy.

Lewis is charged with seven counts of murder in the aid of racketeering, one count of assault with a deadly weapon, interstate travel to commit murder-for-hire, two counts of carrying a firearm for an act of violence, one count of carrying a firearm for a drug-trafficking crime and four counts of distribution of "crack" cocaine.

Merritt is charged with six counts of murder, racketeering and conspiracy, and Steven "Smoke" Northington with two counts of murder in the aid of racketeering.

If convicted, the four could face life imprisonment or the death penalty.

Merritt is serving a 16-year federal sentence for gun violations. Lewis is in federal custody.

Co-defendant Northington is serving a life sentence in state prison for murder and was sentenced to 20 years on a federal conviction for his role in Savage's drug ring.

The indictment took 4 1/2 years to put together and involved the FBI, IRS, Philadelphia police, the D.A.'s Office, the Bureau of Prisons and Maple Shade, N.J., police.

The trial may not be scheduled for more than a year.

Asked why the indictment took so long to complete, Magid said that the "complex racketeering case" was complicated by "witness intimidation and threats."

For example, after the 2004 arson murders, Savage's sister, Kidata Savage, posted information about Coleman and two other federal witnesses on a Web site, whosarat.com.

The night before the arsons, she also put her brother in contact with Lewis, who allegedly set fire to the house the next day.

Asked why Kidata Savage had not been charged, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Troyer said that the investigation was continuing.

Authorities say that the indictment could be revised to include more defendants.

District Attorney Lynne Abraham warned, "For Kaboni Savage and his cohorts, there is more to come."

Calling Savage and his cohorts "pure evil," Deputy Police Commissioner Ross said: "We will never stop coming for you. We never forget." *