Phillip Jerome Murphy, Heroin And Gun Crimes, Virginia 2015

A Franklin man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to heroin and gun crimes. Phillip Jerome Murphy, 41, was sentenced to 300 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute heroin and possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.

Murphy, a convicted felon, and his co-conspirator, Collie Sanks, 37, of Emporia, were leaders of a Bloods street gang known as the Red Stone Rydahs, which operated in the Franklin area. The duo began distributing significant quantities of heroin in Franklin, Smithfield, and Emporia in approximately 2012.

According to court documents, Murphy and Sanks frequently traveled to New York to purchase bulk quantities of heroin and then returned to southeastern Virginia to distribute the drug. They sold heroin themselves and employed other individuals to assist them in their distribution activities.

On several occasions, Murphy completed heroin sales within extremely close proximity to an elementary school that was in session. In addition to numerous undercover heroin purchases from both Murphy and Sanks, search warrants executed at residences associated with each man yielded heroin, cocaine, narcotics packaging materials, and firearms.

At one point during the investigation, Murphy sold an assault rifle with a 30-round magazine to an undercover source. The investigation was led by the FBI's Norfolk Field Office and the Franklin Police Department.

The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Dana J. Boente, announced the sentencing after Murphy's plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson. Assistant U.S. Attorneys William D. Muhr and V. Kathleen Dougherty are prosecuting the case.

Murphy's sentence is a result of his guilty plea on September 23, 2015. The case is part of an ongoing effort to combat heroin trafficking and gun violence in the region.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/franklin-man-sentenced-25-years-heroin-and-gun-crimes