Portsmouth drug kingpin sentenced to life

Portsmouth drug kingpin sentenced to life: "More than ten years after his original trial, Richard Thomas Stitt, 37, formerly of Portsmouth, was sentenced Tuesday in Norfolk federal court to serve five life sentences, plus a term of 65 years, for his role in three murders and in running a violent street gang that distributed crack cocaine in Portsmouth between 1991 and 1998.
According to court records, in October of 1998, following a five and one-half week trial, a jury found Stitt guilty of numerous federal crimes including three murders, drug trafficking and firearms charges. Specifically, the jury convicted Stitt of ordering the murders of two underlings and a member of a rival drug gang, in order to eliminate witnesses and maintain control of the crack trade in Portsmouth"