In a significant move for the St. Louis community, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey has dished out a hefty sentence for a notorious cocaine trafficker with a grave track record of violence, including nine murders. Anthony "TT" Jordan, the 38-year-old kingpin of a major cocaine trafficking ring, received two consecutive life sentences in a federal court on Thursday, with a side serving of an additional five years for good measure.
The story unfolded with a jury convicting Jordan this past February on several serious charges—among them one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, one count of possession of firearms in the advancement of a drug trafficking crime, and critically nine counts of firearm use in a drug-trafficking crime resulting in death, according to the Department of Justice's official reports; a sentencing memorandum paints a chilling portrait of Jordan, who apparently rose to power by maintaining a lethal rule over those who dared cross him, be they snitches, thieves or threats to his associates, his influence was such that, following the murder of one of his associates, he unleashed a vendetta against a local gang he believed responsible for it, which included targeting not only gang members but also their families.
The list of Jordan's alleged victims is long and harrowing, incorporating the lives of Al Walters, Linnie Jackson, Keith Burks, Marquis Jones, Keairrah Johnson, Anthony "Blinky" Clark, Robert "Parker G" Parker, Clara Walker, and Michail "Yellow Mack" Gridiron, spanning a timeline from 2008 to 2014—these are the names that stitch together a narrative of brutality and fear in the fabric of St. Louis' history. Additionally, Jordan's associate Michael Brooks, who was later killed in a retaliatory act, had fatally shot Montez "Tez" Woods under Jordan's belief that Woods had stolen cocaine from him, which catalyzed yet another series of revenge killings by Jordan himself, as per the Department of Justice.
It was said after the audacious seizure of Jordan's phone investigators found images of some of the victims he murdered including Mr. Clark and Mr. Gridiron, and the confiscation of twenty firearms from various locations tied to him further underscored the extent of his criminal enterprise, FBI and DEA joined forces in an investigation that spanned years, leading to this consequential sentencing, "Today’s sentencing of Anthony Jordan wraps up the last and most violent of the 34 defendants responsible for large-scale drug trafficking directly sourced from Mexican cartels," Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division expressed in a statement obtained by the Justice Department's release, "Dismantling an entire criminal enterprise is what the FBI does best," he noted, emphasizing the collaborative law enforcement effort in this landmark case.
As St. Louis begins to turn a page on this dark chapter, there's an echoed sentiment that the sentencing of Anthony Jordan sends a strong message and stands as a testament to the commitment of law enforcement agencies in eradicating criminal elements that sow discord and peril in communities. "Anthony Jordan’s reign of terror has come to an end," proclaimed DEA St. Louis Division Special Agent in Charge Michael Davis, signaling hope that the outcome of the proceedings will act as a stark reminder of the lengths to which agencies like the DEA will go to safeguard neighborhoods from such malignant influences, the DEA and law enforcement partners celebrate today the culmination of efforts to dismantle a violent drug trafficking network that can no more cast its shadow over the St. Louis area, according to the statement from the Justice Department.
