A man who headed an East Baltimore drug ring that included his mother, father, grandfather and two brothers was sentenced to life without parole yesterday for helping smuggle more than $1 million worth of cocaine from New York City, the FBI said.

Stanley Hall Jr., 26, became the fifth defendant in the drug-conspiracy case to be sentenced to life without parole. Eight people were convicted in U.S. District Court in Baltimore after a trial that ended Nov. 9.

'Bat bags'

Federal agents said the ring operated around the 200 block of N. Duncan St. and sold crack in plastic bags with Batman emblems, which came to be known as "bat bags," said FBI spokesman Peter A. Gulotta Jr.

"The bags were considered a bargain because they would be filled with more crack cocaine than the bags of the competitors," Gulotta said.

Among those convicted were Hall's mother, Matilda Hall, 45, and his father, Stanley Hall Sr., 48, who allowed their son and his lieutenants to use their Baltimore homes as "stash houses" for drugs or cash, court papers said.

Matilda Hall is serving a 30-year sentence, and Stanley Hall Sr. is awaiting sentencing.

Also awaiting sentencing is Stanley Hall Jr.'s grandfather, James Gibson, 76, who testified during the trial that he acted as a courier for the organization.

While the ring operated, from February 1996 to October 1997, he brought 25 to 50 kilograms of cocaine into Maryland by car from New York City, Gibson said.

A kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of cocaine is worth $22,000 to $50,000 on the street.

Stanley Hall Jr.'s two brothers, Marquette Hall, 23, and Jesus Hall, 22, have also been sentenced to life without parole, as were two others in the drug organization, Leonard Cotton and Lamont Thomas.

Property seized

During the investigation, federal agents seized a $47,000 Acura from Stanley Hall Jr. that they allege was bought with drug money. The car had several bullet holes in it, the FBI said.

Also seized from a house Stanley Hall owned in Owings Mills were two 50-inch televisions, $20,000 in cash and $60,000 in men's jewelry, authorities said.

Federal agents said the ring wasn't linked to any homicides. But the organization made it known that competition would be met with violence. At one point, a member of the ring opened fire with a semiautomatic handgun in the 200 block of N. Duncan St. and sent people diving for cover, agents said.

"This is the kind of case that should be brought into U.S. District Court because of the violence wrought to the community," said David R. Knowlton, the special agent in charge of the Maryland office of the FBI. "The hefty sentences doled out in this case are commensurate with the seriousness of the crimes."

Pub Date: 3/06/99