TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Three men have been sentenced to life in prison for a murder committed as part of a drug trafficking operation.
U.S. District Judge William Jung sentenced Jordan Rodriguez, 26, on Thursday in Tampa federal court, according to court records. Alfonzo Churchwell, 32, and Andrew Thompson, 25, were sentenced last month. All three were convicted in November of multiple charges that included racketeering conspiracy, drug conspiracy, murder conspiracy, drug and firearms offenses and four murders.
The men had been in a violent rivalry with others in the Bradenton community of Oneco, prosecutors said during their trial. The men worked together to traffic in controlled substances and to control and protect their drug business with violence. Investigators say their racketeering enterprise maintained a “trap house” that was used to distribute heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, marijuana and other drugs.
A total of seven people were charged in July in a 20-count superseding indictment, according to prosecutors. The other four defendants pleaded guilty to a variety of charges rather than go to trial.
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