Baltimore Man Convicted Of Murdering A Witness In Exchange For Money And Drugs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                                 at (410) 209-4885

Greenbelt, Maryland – Baltimore, Maryland – On September 26, 2017, a jury convicted Troy Allen Lucas a/k/a “Troy Madron,” age 49, of Southwest Baltimore, Maryland of charges relating to the murder-for-hire of Robert Long, who was a cooperating witness in a case pending in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City.   

The conviction was announced by the Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Steven M. Schenning; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Don A. Hibbert of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Colonel Woodrow Jones, Chief of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police; and Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.

“This investigation is the final chapter in an extended federal investigation resulting in several convictions and the exoneration of an innocent man who was wrongly convicted and sentenced to life in state prison,” said Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning.

According to evidence presented at the two-week trial, Lucas was a member of "Dead Man Inc." (DMI), a criminal street and prison gang.  Lucas symbolized his allegiance to DMI while in prison in 2007 by having a large tattoo of a hangman’s noose around his neck and on his chest.    

Jose Morales solicited Lucas and his now deceased brother to kill Morales’s employee, Robert Long, in order to retaliate for Long’s cooperation with the police and to prevent Long from testifying against Morales.  Morales paid Lucas in cash and cocaine to kill Long.  The federal case focused on the use of cellular telephones with the intent to have Long murdered and the evidence showed that Lucas and Morales used cell phones to contact one another regarding Long’s cooperation and Long’s whereabouts.  Minutes after the murder, Lucas called Morales to advise that the “job” was done.

Long was shot twice in the head on March 24, 2008, in an open area behind Traci Atkins Park in southwest Baltimore known as the “Lumber Yard.”  The evidence presented at trial showed that Long was shot with a .25 caliber handgun at close range and that Lucas used, carried, and discharged the gun that caused Long’s death.

Judge Roger W. Titus scheduled sentencing for January 3, 2018, and Lucas faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison for murder-for-hire conspiracy and use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.  Lucas also faces a maximum life sentence for discharging the firearm during a crime of violence resulting in death.   

Jose Joaquin Morales, age 40, of Baltimore, Maryland, was convicted at trial by a federal jury for using a cell phone to arrange the murder-for-hire of Robert Long, and was sentenced to life in prison on December 9, 2013.

Stanley Needleman, age 75, of Baltimore, Maryland was convicted by guilty plea of underreporting $1.2 million in cash on his income tax returns and for failing to file federal forms disclosing the receipt of $10,000 in more or in cash from clients.  Needleman testified at both trials reference Morales’s confession to him about the DMI hit.

The prosecution of Morales resulted in the exoneration of Demetrius Smith, who was serving life in state prison for the murder -- a crime he did not commit. 

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the DEA, Maryland Transportation Authority Police and Maryland State Police for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Sandra Wilkinson and Martin Clarke, who prosecuted this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.