United States Attorney’s Office
Eastern District of Virginia
Chuck Rosenberg - United States Attorney

ALEXANDRIA     NEWPORT NEWS      NORFOLK      RICHMOND

June 15, 2007

Further Information Contact:
Deanna Warren
Phone: (757) 441-6331

Portsmouth Drug Kingpin Sentenced to Life

(Norfolk, VA) - Richard Thomas Stitt, 33, formerly of Portsmouth Virginia, was sentenced today in United States District Court to life plus 780 months for three murders he ordered and other crimes he committed while he ran a violent street gang that distributed crack in Portsmouth between 1991 and 1998. Chuck Rosenberg, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Cassandra M. Chandler, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Edward G. Long, Chief of Police, Portsmouth Police Department, made the announcement after Stitt was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Raymond A. Jackson.

On October 16, 1998, following a five and one-half week trial, a jury found Stitt guilty of numerous federal crimes including murder, drug trafficking and firearms charges in relation to those crimes. Specifically, the jury convicted Stitt of ordering the murders of three men (two underlings and a member of a rival drug gang) in order to eliminate witnesses and maintain control of the crack trade in Portsmouth. The jury also heard evidence about numerous other acts of violence perpetrated by Stitt and other members of his gang, including assaults on police officers, multiple shootings and other assaults, home invasions, torture, and acts of violence against female acquaintances. On November 8, 1998, after a penalty hearing, the jury sentenced Stitt to death for each of these murders. In 2001, Stitt's conviction and sentence were upheld on appeal. In April 2005, United States District Court Judge Raymond A. Jackson overturned Stitt's death sentence, ruling that Stitt's attorneys were ineffective at Stitt's earlier sentencing.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia indicated in court papers and during Friday's hearing that it opposed proceeding to sentencing without having the opportunity to again seek a death sentence by empanelling a new jury that could have considered re-imposing the death penalty for Stitt's crimes.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Portsmouth Police Department investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Darryl J. Mitchell is prosecuting the case for the United States.