Tyrone Weatherall, the 35-year-old leader of the "West Side Gator Boys," pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, according to U.S. Attorney James Jacks. Weatherall's West Side Gator Boys was a Dallas drug trafficking and criminal street gang that operated as many as 20 drug houses in a West Dallas neighborhood just south of the Trinity River near North Hampton Road.
Weatherall and more than a dozen gang members were arrested in March following an investigation by the Dallas Police Department's Gang Unit and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He faces life in prison and a $4 million fine when he's sentenced on November 19 by U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater.
So what does all that drug money buy you? Weatherall claimed he used it to purchase exotic animals, horses, land, five houses and a BMW. The full release follows after the jump.
LEADER OF A DRUG TRAFFICKING AND CRIMINAL STREET GANG IN DALLAS PLEADS GUILTY IN DRUG CONSPIRACYDALLAS -- Tyrone Weatherall, 35, of Grand Prairie, Texas, pleaded guilty today before Chief U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. He faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in prison and a $4 million fine. Sentencing is set for November 19, 2010, before Judge Fitzwater.
Weatherall was the leader of a drug trafficking and criminal street gang in Dallas called the "West Side Gator Boys." He has been in federal custody since he, and over a dozen other members of the West Side Gator Boys, were arrested in March 2010, in an operation led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Dallas Police Department's Gang Unit.
According to documents filed in the case, from January 2007 through March 2010, Tyrone Weatherall, along with co-defendants Demarcus Edwards, Demetrius Forward, Detric Lewis, Xavious Brown and his cousin, Corey Weatherall, were involved in a conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of cocaine base (crack cocaine).
Specifically, Tyrone Weatherall provided drugs, guns and drug houses to his co-conspirators to facilitate the drug distribution; Tyrone Weatherall and his co-conspirators would then receive large amounts of cash from the sale of crack and marijuana. Edwards, Forward, and Brown have filed pleaded guilty to their roles in the drug trafficking conspiracy and are awaiting sentencing.
Over the course of the conspiracy, agents and officers determined that the conspiracy members possessed large quantities of crack, marijuana, and multiple weapons. These gang members were running as many as 20 drug houses in one small neighborhood - located on Dennison, Homeland, Angelina, Morris, Gallagher, Life, Shaw, Kraft, Barree and Ivanhoe streets in Dallas.
Tyrone Weatherall further admitted to engaging in financial transactions with Edwards, Forward, Lewis, Brown, Corey Weatherall and others, to promote the distribution of cocaine during the course of the conspiracy. Weatherall also admitted that he used the drug trafficking proceeds to purchase exotic animals, horses, land, houses and at least one car. He acquired several horses that resided on Weatherall's West Dallas ranch, five houses and a BMW. Weatherall also admitted using drug proceeds to acquire four houses on Life Avenue in Dallas; one house on the lake (Comanche Trail) in Grand Prairie, Texas, and four lots on Barree Drive in Dallas. He did not have a legitimate job during the course of the conspiracy.
Tyrone Weatherall will be required to forfeit the ranch, horses, and multiple houses.
This investigation is being conducted by ATF and the Dallas Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandon McCarthy and Cara Foos Pierce are in charge of the prosecution.
