Pubdate: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) Copyright: 2001 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Contact: http://www.jsonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265 Author: David Doege, Journal Sentinel staff DRUG NETWORK FUNNELED TONS OF POT TO MILWAUKEE After 15-Month Probe, Major Midwest Operation Collapses The first inkling police could have had that a new marijuana network was moving into Milwaukee came five years ago, when they stumbled onto a northwest side motel room full of money and a bunch of pot. Livingston Roach was a courier for a Texas-based organization that flew drug money from Milwaukee to Houston, and when police were sent to his room because the aroma of marijuana had seeped into a corridor, he insisted he wasn't breaking any laws. But, according to a criminal complaint, two Milwaukee marijuana distributors had just dropped off $23,000 for Roach as payment for an earlier shipment, and the tips of two large bundles of bills poked from beneath the sheets on his bed. When an officer retrieved the bundles, he found 50 pounds of marijuana hidden with them. It had been left in the room earlier that day by a woman who had it in her luggage when she flew in from Houston, a complaint says. It was Roach's fifth trip to Milwaukee for a man called Minor, according to a complaint. From his four previous trips, Roach returned to Houston with a total of $356,000, Circuit Court records show. Roach later told police that Minor, a man from Jamaican living in Houston, was receiving 350- to 500-pound shipments at his Texas home from a supplier named Jose and was using women to fly it to Milwaukee in their luggage, a complaint says. Police here, however, were told nothing about Minor at the time. Authorities said Roach kept his mouth shut and went to prison on a five-year sentence while Minor went on undetected and allegedly became a multimillionaire, distributing more than 13 tons of marijuana in Milwaukee a year. Minor settled down on exclusive Lake Shore Drive in Chicago while he had tons of marijuana shipped north from Texas in semitrailer trucks he purchased, according to the complaint. It wasn't until after a 15-month probe that authorities were able bring down the major Midwest drug ring. Used cell phones Minor insulated himself from others in the drug trade by conducting business over cellular phones registered to others and stored his marijuana in Chicago-area warehouses, the complaint says. He used two teams of lieutenants: one to guard his cache and recover the proceeds from past deals, and the other to make deliveries and collect debts, investigators allege. Minor is accused of buying real estate and listing it in the names of others, according to investigators. He's also accused of ordering shootings to keep people in line and funneling large amounts of cash to hidden accounts. Last year, investigators from the Wisconsin Department of Justice latched onto Minor's organization and, after a 15-month investigation, began rounding up his lieutenants in Milwaukee, according to a recently unsealed criminal complaint. They also learned Minor's identity - Kenneth L. Green - and in April made one of their biggest busts ever when they arrested him in Chicago. Seven months later, Green remains in the Milwaukee County Jail in lieu of $10 million bail while the people rounded up with him are steadily pleading guilty. Two men have now been sentenced to prison for their involvement in the network, two more have pleaded guilty and three others are scheduled to do so in the weeks ahead. The most recent guilty plea came from Rohan M. Mogg, a man who was once shot on Green's orders "for talking too much" and was shot at on another occasion after a falling out with Green, according to court records. Most recently, Mogg was in trouble with his boss for having a 240-pound marijuana shipment seized by authorities, according to court records. of Mogg, but was suspected of stealing from Green and fell out of favor, the complaint says. He also is scheduled to plead guilty next month. Ardine G. Henriques, 30, of Milwaukee recently pleaded guilty to marijuana trafficking and racketeering, primarily for trucking marijuana from Texas to Milwaukee, charging $1,000 for each 100 pounds in his shipments. The complaint indicates that much of the evidence accumulated during the investigation came from informants and undercover buys, usually of marijuana but occasionally involving cocaine. One informant, for instance, described Green as "a very feared leader," who once had 24 M-16 rifles under his control, the complaint says. The complaint also says that authorities convened a John Doe proceeding, tapped seven phone lines and eavesdropped on conversations held by Green and the others to gather evidence. Green is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 18 for a status conference. By then, he may be the last figure fighting his case in Circuit Court. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom