Man convicted in two Joplin murders

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) -- An Oklahoma man who prosecutors said was a gang leader was convicted of killing two Joplin residents in a drug-related dispute.

Thomas "Mad Dog" Smith, 33, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder Wednesday in the Dec. 15, 1999, shooting deaths of Paris Harbin, 20, and Chandy Plumb, 25, in Joplin.

The federal jury on Thursday was hearing arguments in the sentencing phase of the trial, with Smith facing either a death sentence or life in prison without parole. A decision could come later this week, said Don Ledford, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in western Missouri.

Smith also pleaded guilty to several lesser charges, including conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of crack cocaine in Joplin, managing a crack house in Joplin, and being a felon and unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm.

The prosecution contended Smith was the ringleader of a cell of Bloods gang members from Tulsa, Okla., who manufactured and peddled crack cocaine in the Joplin area from September 1998 through December 2000. They said Harbin and Plumb were killed in a dispute over money and crack cocaine stolen from a gang house in Joplin.

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Information from: The Joplin Globe, http://www.joplinglobe.com