Guilty pleas follow land seizure order

Southeast Missourian

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The federal government could seize permanently an empty package store, a closed nightclub, a barber shop and a 10-unit apartment complex prosecutors say provided havens for drug trafficking in Sikeston.

Two Sikeston residents pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to distributing crack cocaine. Anglyn Frazier, 50, pleaded guilty to four felony counts of distributing five or more grams of crack, and Martin Taliaferro Sumlin, 47, pleaded guilty to three felony counts of aiding and abetting the distribution of five or more grams of crack cocaine.

Both Sumlin and Frazier face a maximum punishment of 40 years and a $2 million fine on each count.

Sumlin's plea comes on the heels of a recent federal court order forfeiting nearly the entire 200 block of Felker Street, which was owned by his grandparents, Ella and Rufus Sumlin Sr.

With her plea, Frazier admitted she sold crack cocaine to an undercover officer on four separate occasions between March 8 and April 25. Sumlin admitted he was Frazier's source for crack cocaine, and he was the source of 13.8 grams of crack that another co-defendant, Pauline Tate Meekie, sold to an undercover officer April 27.

More than 40 defendants have been convicted in federal court since 1995 for drug and violent crimes in Sikeston's West End resulting in sentences totaling 333 years, said assistant U.S. Attorney Larry H. Ferrell, who handled the prosecution.

He said more indictments are expected from that area.

In the Felker Street property forfeiture order, U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry found that the property had been regularly used by members of the Sumlin family for drug trafficking.

The property includes two tracts. The first, at 211 Felker, includes a 10-unit apartment house. The second has a building which contains the now-closed Ella's Grocery and Package Store, a now-closed club called Scottie's and a barber shop. Those addresses are 223, 225 and 227 Felker.

The judge cited 12 different cases between July 1994 and February 1997 in which drugs were seized from the Sumlins' property.

A civil trial in November 1997 ended with Ella's Package Store and Scottie's closed and their liquor licenses revoked.

At the time, prosecutors argued the property was the site of numerous illegal activities, including gang shootings, drug trafficking and after-hours sale of alcohol. Undercover agents testified they bought crack cocaine from people later identified as relatives of the Sumlins.

Rufus Sumlin Jr. and Rufus Sumlin III both were convicted of drug charges stemming from sales made on the property.

The elder Sumlins are appealing the forfeiture order, claiming to be innocent owners who knew nothing of the extensive drug trafficking on their property.

The judge didn't believe the couple, who both testified at a two-day bench trial in February.

She cited an incident in 1997 in which Rufus Sumlin Sr. was present at a shootout directly in front of the store and the fact that Ella Sumlin herself was in federal prison from November 1990 until the end of 1994 after being convicted of drug trafficking.

In her ruling, Perry said Ella and Rufus Sumlin Sr., were "well aware that their children, grandchildren and others were actively engaged in the drug business" from the property.

abuchanan@semissourian.com

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