Inmate charged with witness tampering

In the 10 months before a federal witness' family dying in a raging North Philadelphia firebombing in 2004, convicted drug trafficker Dawud Bey twice sent menacing warnings to the witness, Eugene "Twin" Coleman, not to testify at a federal drug trial.

In one threat, Bey, 40, a co-defendant of notorious drug lord Kaboni Savage, promised to kill Coleman - and possibly his family.

Coleman testified anyway, in spite of grieving for his mother, toddler son and four others killed in the firebombing. His testimony led to the convictions of Bey, Savage and two others in the multimillion cocaine-trafficking network.

Now, five years after these threats, the feds took a step to make sure Bey won't carry them out in 2013, when he's due to be released.

Savage was charged in April in a sweeping federal indictment that accused him of ordering the murders of the Coleman family and several others

Yesterday, Bey, of South Philadelphia, was charged in a five-count federal indictment with conspiracy and four counts of witness tampering for allegedly threatening to kill Coleman, Paul Daniels, Craig Oliver and Robert Wilks, aka "Miami," all drug associates turned witnesses.

"When I get out, I'm gonna try to kill every f------ rat I know, Dog," Bey told an inmate. He spoke through the toilet bowl - thanks to a bizarre quirk in the plumbing system at the Federal Detention Center - in conversations overheard on a court-approved wiretap requested by the FBI.

The murderous threats via the plumbing system were dubbed the "Toilet Tapes."

The indictment cited these conversations:

_ In 2004-2005, Bey plotted with Savage to kill the witnesses, their babies, girlfriends and parents, to prevent them from testifying.

"These rats deserve to die, right or wrong?" asked Savage. Bey agreed.

_ In a conversation with Savage, Bey recounted telling Daniels: "I'm telling you "P," snitching ain't cool . . . your ass is on the line; your life is on the line.

"What makes you think your kids, your family's any more important than [Savage's]?" asked Bey.

Savage directed Bey to target Daniels' girlfriend and infant in lieu of his mother, saying "Gotta get Toscha's ass . . . Toscha and that little b---- he's got."

_ When Savage wanted to retaliate physically against Oliver, Bey agreed, saying "Yeah, he need to f--- up Craig . . . we need a big n---- like him on his ass."

_ Bey told Savage in January, 2005: "Hey B", I'm gonna f--- one of the n----s up when I get downstairs."

Savage replied: "So you gotta tell the n---- you killing the families . . . They kids and mothers because they think they gone get out and run down South."

Last night, Bey's attorney, Joseph Santaguida, said, "I thought these were uncorroborated allegations. I guess [the feds] promised all the people a reduction of sentence to get them what they want to hear."

At Bey's 2006 sentencing, U.S. District Judge Mary McLaughlin added an extra 42 months for obstruction of justice for his threats, for a total of 120 months, or 10 years in federal prison. *