Last in Drug Family Gets 20 Years

It’s the end of a long road. The arrests were in Hartford County in 2008 for cocaine possession and distribution. Four defendants were tried and convicted in 2009. A fifth, Tanya Mack, saw the writing on the wall and boogied before her trial. After more than a year on the lam, she was finally re-arrested and her sentence came down last month – 20 years with a further 10 years of supervised parole.

Three of the five convicted share the same last name. The “Macks” were originally linked to cocaine trafficking between New Jersey and Maryland after a wiretap connected Candis Mack to a known dealer. Candice got busted with cocaine in the car. Her brother was brought in as a codefendant. Tanya Mack, the runaway, saw her fellows go to jail one at a time and fled.

The other two convicted in the ring were Derrick Lamont Prather, age 33, of Havre de Grace, MD and Fernando Alexander Settles, age 28, of Abingdon.

All in all, the investigations, trials and sentencing have extended over three years. A case of the wheels of justice moving slowly but surely. On a positive note, several pounds of cocaine were seized. And lest we feel sorry for the Macks, they were convicted not only of distributing cocaine, but also turning it into crack.

The investigation was a classic sting. After being busted with cocaine, Candice was released on bond. Naturally, she contacted her supplier about the incident. Police had already tapped her phone and were waiting to record the incriminating conversation. That gave them probable cause to search the house where more drugs were kept. The case was sewn up with a plea agreement with the dealer (who got 11 years). The only fly in the ointment was when Tanya did a Whitey Bolger and disappeared. It wasn’t reported how she managed to elude capture for 14 months. But the case is closed now… finally.