Drug kingpin’s girlfriend gets 2 years, collapses

The live-in girlfriend of convicted drug kingpin Alton “Ace Capone” Coles collapsed in a federal courtroom Friday after being sentenced to two years in prison on money-laundering charges tied to Coles’ multimillion cocaine distribution network.

A sobbing Asya Richardson, 30, fell to the floor after U.S. District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick rejected her plea for leniency and imposed a 24-month sentence.

"I'm not the same person I was," said Richardson who was convicted of lying on mortgage documents she and Coles used to buy a $500,000 house near Mullica Hill in July 2005.

"I would never, ever be involved in anything like this again," she had said between tears. "Give me a second chance. You won't regret it."

In fact, Surrick gave Richardson a substantial break. Sentencing guidelines had set her prison term range at between 51 and 63 months.

Her lawyer, Ellen C. Brotman had made an impassioned plea for probation or some type of home confinement, arguing that Richardson, who has no prior criminal record, was a minor player in the Coles' case.

"She got involved with the wrong guy," Brotman said during the nearly two-hour sentencing hearing.

Coles, Richardson and four codefendants were convicted following a two-month trial in 2008. Coles was sentenced to life in prison plus 55 years.

He was arrested in August 2005, less than two weeks after he and Richardson had moved into the home on the outskirts of Mullica Hill in Gloucester County.

The arrest capped a lengthy investigation spearheaded by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Richardson was one of the last defendants to be sentenced. In all, more than a dozen members of the Coles organization were convicted or pleaded guilty.

Richardson, originally from North Philadelphia, was one of three Coles' girlfriends identified during the trial. One testified for the government and another was sentenced to 42 months in prison on drug charges.

She was accused to helping Coles launder $114,000 in drug proceeds that he used as a down payment on the Gloucester County home.

Brotman argued that it was unclear how much of that cash was from the drug operation and that, in any event, her client believed Coles had legitimate sources of income.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bresnick argued that Richardson should be sentenced within the guideline range and rejected the contention that she was unaware of Coles' role in the drug underworld.

In a sentencing memo he wrote that she knew "Coles sold drugs [and] that he made a prodigious amount of money doing so."

Federal authorities estimated that Coles' organization sold about a ton of crack cocaine in an eight-year period, generating at least $25 million.

And despite the defense claims that Richardson was a naive girlfriend rather than Coles' partner-in-crime, Bresnick said that she enjoyed "the lifestyle he made available to her, including the custom-built mansion in Mullica Hill."

Coles headed a cocaine ring based in Southwest Philadelphia and used a record company he founded - Takedown Records - as a front for his drug dealing, authorities said.

At one point during the investigation he used rap singers with his company to make a 31-minute video called New Jack City: The Next Generation in which he starred as a cocaine kingpin.

Authorities said the video captured both the audacity and the arrogance of Coles, as did the nickname "Ace Capone" which he chose to use as his video persona.

In imposing sentence on Richardson, Surrick said he weighed the seriousness of the crime against the strong indications that she had already begun to rehabilitate herself.

He noted that she has been employed for the past three years while free on bail and that her employer - she works as an office administrator, her lawyer said - had written a letter on her behalf praising her "strong work ethic."

Surrick said he had to balance Richardson's role as a "productive citizen" today against the role she played in helping Coles launder drug money, as the jury had found at trial.

The sentencing hearing, delayed for 20 minutes while paramedics examined Richardson, concluded with Surrick informing her that she had the right to appeal the sentence.

Sobbing, but standing before the court, Richardson said she understood.

She is scheduled to begin serving her term on Feb. 22.

Brotman, after the hearing, said she understood Surrick's attempt to balance the issues, but said she was "disappointed" the judge ordered incarceration "when viable alternatives were possible."

Brotman said she intends to appeal the conviction.