Man gets 50-year prison sentence for trying to kill government

ST. LOUIS -- A man who directed another man to kill a government witness in a drug and weapons case was sentenced Friday to 51 years in federal prison.

Qusai Mahasin, 23, who lunged at a federal prosecutor after being convicted in December, also was ordered to pay victim Ben White $2,345 to defray medical treatment costs. White was shot three times outside his home on April 18, 2000.

Police in University City, a St. Louis suburb, arrested Mahasin and White after seeing a white bag and pistol thrown from Mahasin's car. The bag contained more than 500 grams of heroin, authorities said. After White told investigators that Mahasin gave him the bag, the charges against him were dropped and Mahasin was indicted.

At Mahasin's trial, witnesses testified that Mahasin directed Maurice Rose to go to White's house and kill him. White was shot three times but recovered, eventually identifying Rose as the shooter, the government said.

Mahasin was convicted of felony charges he tried to kill the witness, possessed heroin with plans to sell it, carried a firearm during a drug-trafficking crime, and illegally used a firearm.

Rose, 21, was convicted in October of trying to kill the witness and of using a firearm during a violent crime. In December, he was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison.

Mahasin's brother is serving life behind bars in the August 2000 shooting death of St. Louis police Officer Robert Stanze.