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Houston drug lord convicted of hiring shooter to kill man who allegedly stole cocaine from him
Ronald Brown was convicted of hiring a shooter to kill a man he thought allegedly conspired to steal cocaine from him
www.houstonchronicle.com
Houston drug lord convicted of hiring shooter to kill man who allegedly stole cocaine from him
Jonathan LimehouseOct. 31, 2023Updated: Nov. 1, 2023 10:52 a.m.
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GOTTA THROW THAT IN Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas, issued a ruling Friday that said the state law that bans giving government money to companies boycotting Israel violated a Houston contractor’s First Amendment rights. Michael Ciaglo, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
A 50-year-old Houston man who authorities say moved pounds of cocaine each week to Atlanta could spend the rest of his life in federal prison after a jury convicted him Tuesday of hiring a shooter to kill a man he believed robbed him.
Ronald Brown, aka Nuk, Nook or Nookie, was found guilty on all counts in relation to his drug trafficking enterprise and the murder and attempted murders of a former crew member and an associate he thought stole 56 kilograms of cocaine from him in April 2014.
"We are disappointed with the jury verdict," Brown's defense attorney, Ali Fazel, said. "Mr. Brown is looking forward to presenting his appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals."
Authorities said Brown would acquire the drugs from Mexico and use semi trucks and car haulers to move them from Houston to Atlanta, court records state. Once the drugs touched down in Atlanta, Brown's crew would divide shipments and deliver to buyers for money. After receiving the money, the crew would stuff the illegal funds in suitcases and duffel bags and take them back to Houston in tractor-trailers and vehicles.
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Law enforcement seized 21 kilograms of cocaine from one of Brown's crew members in December 2013 at a Valero gas station, court records said. During the trial, a driver for Brown testified his boss became even more wary of the crew member when 56 kilograms of cocaine was robbed April 18, 2014, Justice Department officials said in a news release.
From that point, Brown believed the same crew member who lost the drugs at the Valero gas station and another drug associate of his conspired to steal cocaine from him, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Brown acted on his suspicions and kidnapped the drug associate by zip-tying his arms and legs and putting him in the trunk of his girlfriend’s car, according to court documents. When the associate managed to free himself from Brown's girlfriend's trunk, a random citizen picked him up, but Brown followed and shot at them multiple times. The citizen was shot in the head and upper body, but both he and the associate survived.
One of the kidnappers testified in court that Brown told him to dispose of the gun and his girlfriend's vehicle, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Brown also told his girlfriend to report her car stolen.
When Brown began searching for the crew member he believed conspired to rob him, he learned the date of his next parole visit and hired a shooter to kill him, court records said. He also gave the shooter the gun to use for the $20,000 hit.
After the former crew member's parole visit on July 1, 2014, the hired shooter shot him multiple times at close range as he sat in the driver's seat of his car, court documents said. He died at the scene. Brown paid the hired gun in the parking lot of a grocery store, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Fazel accused some of the witnesses of lying to government agents.
Brown is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 29, and he's facing the possibility of life after being convicted of all of his charges. He has been and will remain in federal custody until the sentencing hearing.
Drug trafficker convicted of murder for hire outside parole office – facing mandatory life sentence
A federal jury in Houston has convicted a 50-year-old Houston man on multiple violent crimes related to a drug trafficking conspiracy
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