Street preacher gets 27 years in ’Basement of Horrors’ case

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA

A self-proclaimed street preacher who had a role in kidnapping, torturing and enslaving mentally disabled adults chained up in a filthy basement has been sentenced to 27 years in prison.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia announced that Eddie “the Reverend Ed” Wright was sentenced Thursday for the scheme that lasted from 2001 to October 2011. He is the second of the five people charged in the case that shocked the nation to be sentenced this week, after Nicklaus Woodard was also sentenced to 27 years Tuesday.

“The physical and psychological pain inflicted on the victims can only be described as pure, unadulterated torture,” said U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain, saying the sentencings meant “justice has finally been served.”

Last month, Jean McIntosh was sentenced to 40 years in prison for her role. McIntosh helped prosecutors build a case against her mother, Linda Weston, the ringleader of the group that held victims captive for years in a cramped basement in the plan to steal more than $200,000 in government benefits.

Weston previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison plus 80 years to avoid the death penalty. Court records Thursday showed federal charges were pending against Greg Thomas, Weston’s ex-boyfriend.

In all, the five defendants were charged with 196 counts after police rescued four people from the basement in October 2011. Details of the squalid conditions, physical abuse and forced prostitution of the victims began to come to light in charging documents and the case gained national attention.