Woman planned to spring inmate with kit helo after "couple of classes"
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Woman planned to spring inmate with kit helo after "couple of classes"
Well, I suppose it would have given the other inmates some entertainment for a couple of minutes. And a nice warm fire... 
Nashville jail plot sought getaway with helicopter kit
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Nashville jail plot sought getaway with helicopter kit
Federal agents have arrested a Nashville woman accused of taking part in plans to spring notorious gang leader Jamal Shakir from jail.
Shakir's planned escape from federal custody was part of a bigger plot to reinvigorate his criminal machine, the Rollin' 90 Crips, according to court documents.
From a Nashville jail cell, the drug kingpin is accused of ordering Faith Readus, 35, to help put together a plan to break him out. Part of the scheme involved finding a helicopter that could be used to pick him up.
Readus' case was bound over to a federal grand jury Thursday, and a judge ruled that she should stay in jail until her case goes to trial.
"Even jail bars don't necessarily stop communication and plots" between gang members, federal prosecutor Sunny A.M. Koshy said.
Shakir faces multiple life sentences for arranging drug deals and murders, executing power over a gang enterprise that stretched from Los Angeles to Nashville.
In May 2008, Shakir was convicted of orchestrating a nationwide drug ring from his home in East Nashville, laundering money and killing nine people between 1994 and 1997. Currently, he is behind bars at the Davidson County Criminal Justice Center awaiting a federal sentencing hearing.
According to an FBI affidavit, employees at the jail intercepted a suspicious letter Shakir had tried to mail on Sept. 2. In the letter, Shakir discussed drug trafficking, robbery, assaults and plans to have three people murdered, court records show.
In a second letter written a week later, Shakir allegedly detailed plans to reorganize the Rollin' 90 Crips "to bring structure and order to our tribe."
The recipient of both letters, Christopher Conyers of Nashville, was arrested on Sept. 11, two days after authorities recorded a phone conversation he had with Shakir in which the men allegedly talked about gang activity.
Federal agents found a loaded semiautomatic handgun in the trunk of Conyers' car while serving a search warrant. He was jailed on charges of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
The escape scheme involved Conyers and Readus getting their hands on a small, kit-built helicopter that would later be used in Shakir's intended escape. Readus allegedly researched different types of helicopters and found information on flight training classes.
In a letter to Readus, Shakir promised her a place in the gang's leadership. "Your first loyalty … should be to me, because without the head the body is useless. And without a true strong King, there can be no stable queen," he wrote in the letter.
Though it was unclear exactly how the plan would have worked, attorneys speculated that it might have involved landing the helicopter on an exercise roof on the top of the criminal justice center.
Readus' attorney, Jennifer Thompson, argued that it was a scheme that could never have succeeded. "It's really outrageous she's being charged … when the plan is to get a homemade helicopter kit and learn to drive the helicopter by taking a couple of classes," she said
Shakir's planned escape from federal custody was part of a bigger plot to reinvigorate his criminal machine, the Rollin' 90 Crips, according to court documents.
From a Nashville jail cell, the drug kingpin is accused of ordering Faith Readus, 35, to help put together a plan to break him out. Part of the scheme involved finding a helicopter that could be used to pick him up.
Readus' case was bound over to a federal grand jury Thursday, and a judge ruled that she should stay in jail until her case goes to trial.
"Even jail bars don't necessarily stop communication and plots" between gang members, federal prosecutor Sunny A.M. Koshy said.
Shakir faces multiple life sentences for arranging drug deals and murders, executing power over a gang enterprise that stretched from Los Angeles to Nashville.
In May 2008, Shakir was convicted of orchestrating a nationwide drug ring from his home in East Nashville, laundering money and killing nine people between 1994 and 1997. Currently, he is behind bars at the Davidson County Criminal Justice Center awaiting a federal sentencing hearing.
According to an FBI affidavit, employees at the jail intercepted a suspicious letter Shakir had tried to mail on Sept. 2. In the letter, Shakir discussed drug trafficking, robbery, assaults and plans to have three people murdered, court records show.
In a second letter written a week later, Shakir allegedly detailed plans to reorganize the Rollin' 90 Crips "to bring structure and order to our tribe."
The recipient of both letters, Christopher Conyers of Nashville, was arrested on Sept. 11, two days after authorities recorded a phone conversation he had with Shakir in which the men allegedly talked about gang activity.
Federal agents found a loaded semiautomatic handgun in the trunk of Conyers' car while serving a search warrant. He was jailed on charges of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
The escape scheme involved Conyers and Readus getting their hands on a small, kit-built helicopter that would later be used in Shakir's intended escape. Readus allegedly researched different types of helicopters and found information on flight training classes.
In a letter to Readus, Shakir promised her a place in the gang's leadership. "Your first loyalty … should be to me, because without the head the body is useless. And without a true strong King, there can be no stable queen," he wrote in the letter.
Though it was unclear exactly how the plan would have worked, attorneys speculated that it might have involved landing the helicopter on an exercise roof on the top of the criminal justice center.
Readus' attorney, Jennifer Thompson, argued that it was a scheme that could never have succeeded. "It's really outrageous she's being charged … when the plan is to get a homemade helicopter kit and learn to drive the helicopter by taking a couple of classes," she said
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