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Man convicted in Biondillo mob hit takes plea in drug case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A man who served prison time for a mob murder in 1996 pleaded guilty to drug charges Wednesday that can possibly land him in prison for 20 more years.
George Wilkins, 40, of McClure Street in Struthers, entered guilty pleas before Judge Maureen Sweeney in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in two cases on several counts of trafficking in cocaine, trafficking in heroin and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
Prosecutors and defense attorney Tom Zena have agreed on a sentence of 14 years, of which 11 years are mandatory and there is also the possibility Wilkins could be sentenced to an additional five years by a federal court for violating his probation there.
The pleas capped off an intense three days of negotiations and headed off a trial that was slated to begin today.
A co-defendant in the case, Terrence Wilkerson of Yonkers, N.Y., pleaded guilty to drug charges Monday and is expected to receive a sentence of three years in prison.
Sentencing dates for both men have not been set.
Wilkins was stopped by Struthers police in August at the request of the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force as part of a drug investigation. When he was pulled over, police found three kilos of cocaine and a kilo and a half of heroin.
Youngstown police officer Bob Patton, who is part of the task force, said the drugs were still in their pure form and had not been “cut,” or diluted to make as many doses as possible.
He said their value before they are cut was probably about $240,000 but they could fetch more than $1 million after they are cut.
Patton said because of Wilkins’ cooperation police were able to arrest Wilkerson, a major supplier from New York, a distributor from Pittsburgh and investigators also know of 12 other people locally Wilkins was distributing the drugs to.
Wilkins was one of three men accused and sentenced for carrying out the June 3, 1996, slaying of 53-year-old Ernie Biondillo as he was driving to work on the East Side.
Later investigation showed that Wilkins and the other two men acted to carry out a plot by former mob boss Lenny Strollo, who wanted Biondillo killed because they were organized-crime rivals.
Wilkins, along with Cleveland Blair and Jeffrey Riddle, were sentenced to prison for their roles in the murder. Wilkins was sentenced to 13 years and four months, while Blair received a 15-year sentence and Riddle received a sentence of life in prison.