Gang leader gets reduced sentence for helping Norfolk police

NORFOLK

Former Bloods gang leader Marlon "Black Marlo" Reed was facing life in prison plus 30 years, but he received a 19-year sentence Wednesday because he testified against fellow Bloods and helped police solve five gang-related homicides.

This is the first time authorities have publicly linked so many homicides to Norfolk's gang problem, particularly between the Bloods and the Crips.

Reed had pleaded guilty to four felony charges. Authorities now are so concerned about his safety that a federal judge took testimony from two Norfolk homicide detectives in private Wednesday morning so Bloods gang members in the audience could not hear about Reed's assistance.

U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Friedman denied an initial request by Reed's attorney to close the courtroom entirely but later adjourned to a side room, allowing a reporter to witness the testimony.

Norfolk homicide detectives J.R. Malbon and J.H. Smith told the judge how Reed helped them solve five gang-related homicides, including the May 2007 killing of an Army staff sergeant in East Ocean View, where the Bounty Hunter Bloods are based. A 17-year-old has been charged in the case.

The detectives did not identify the other homicides, and a police spokesman did not immediately provide any further details Wednesday.

"Some of these cases, if not for him, I would not have been able to obtain the names of the suspects," Malbon told the judge.

After the return to open court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Muhr told Friedman that he normally would ask for life in prison in a case like Reed's.

Federal sentencing guidelines called for a minimum prison term of 65 years and a maximum of life plus 30 years. Muhr said he was asking for a 70 percent reduction from the minimum and cited Reed's "risk of death" in testifying against co-defendants and assisting in the homicide cases.

"Mr. Reed did an extraordinary thing," Muhr said, adding that he had never before asked for such a large reduction in sentence.

Reed's testimony in an August trial helped convict two Bounty Hunter Bloods gang leaders. He had already pleaded guilty to four felonies, including racketeering, use of firearms in a kidnapping and crimes of violence, and agreed to cooperate with the government.

Reed testified that co-defendants Mikal Mustafa Mix and Gary Lynn Toliver Jr. led the Norfolk faction of the Bloods for years, dealing drugs and committing murders, shootings, robberies and home invasions.

Reed's attorney, Ken Melvin, said Reed has already been beaten and threatened with death while being held in local jails. He said Reed should qualify for the witness protection program.

Friedman, though, said initially he was torn by the request for leniency.

"He did some terrible things," Friedman said. "He tortured people. He shot someone in the face. I can't just close my eyes to the things he did in the past."

Melvin pointed out that Reed is the first gang leader in Hampton Roads to provide such a wealth of information.

In the end, Friedman granted the reduction.

"I do think there's more than sufficient grounds to grant the motion," he said.

Reed, 34, said he is cooperating in part to send a message to his two young sons to stay away from gangs.

He told the judge this is "a way for me to show them and other teenagers that being a part of a gang is not the right decision to make in life."

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com