Man who killed central Pa. drug informant and 2 others sentenced to life in prison

From left, Brandon Cole, Phillip Jackson and Wendy Chaney were "executed" in a drug-related hit in 2016.

A Maryland man who ordered the killing of a criminal informant that resulted in the deaths of three people at a central Pa. barn will serve three life sentences in federal prison, the Department of Justice said Monday.

In 2016, Kevin Coles sent a group after Wendy Ann Chaney, who was cooperating with authorities investigating Coles’ drug trafficking operation. She was found by her killers at a Franklin County property with Brandon Cole and Phillip Matthew Jackson. All three were killed.

Coles, who was convicted by a federal jury in connection with the murders in April 2022, was sentenced to three consecutive terms of life imprisonment by U.S. District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner. In addition to those terms, Conner sentenced Coles to another 35 years on various firearms convictions.

The killing occurred on June 25, 2016, at a farm along Welsh Run Road in Montgomery Township. U.S. Attorney Gerard Karam provided the following details about the investigation:

Police arrived at Jackson’s property to find Chaney, 38, Cole, 47 and Jackson, 36. Chaney was living at Hagerstown at the time as was Coles, 37.

All three had been shot, their hands were zip-tied behind their backs and they had been set on fire.

Jackson and Cole were shot once in the head while Chaney was shot once in the back and once in the neck.

Chaney and Cole were dead, and Jackson was transported to a hospital where he soon died.

Prosecutors argued that Chaney had been in a relationship with Coles and another co-conspirator, and was helping them with their drug distribution operation.

Coles, the co-conspirator, and another co-defendant Devin Dickerson learned Chaney was cooperating with federal authorities and put out a contract for her to be killed.

In all, 11 people were charged in connection with the murders, including members of the Baltimore-based gang known as the Black Guerrilla Family, who traveled to the quiet farmland just across the Pennsylvania border from Washington County Maryland, to kill Chaney.

The killers were promised there was $20,000 in a safe in Jackson’s barn that could be taken as payment for the killing, plus any drugs and firearms found on the property. The money was never found on the property.

But Chaney was not alone at the farm and Cole and Jackson became collateral damage to Coles’ efforts to protect his drug trafficking.

Here is where the cases against the other defendants in the killings stand:

  • Devin Dickerson, age 31, Hagerstown, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin and crack cocaine and is awaiting sentencing;
  • Kenyatta Corbett, age 38, Hagerstown, pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery and to being an accomplice to the use of a firearm during Hobbs Act robbery and is awaiting sentencing;
  • Michael Buck, age 30, Hagerstown, pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery and to being an accomplice to the use of a firearm during Hobbs Act robbery and is awaiting sentencing;
  • Nicholas Preddy, age 29, Baltimore, pleaded guilty to attempting to kill a witness and is awaiting sentencing;
  • Johnnie Jenkins-Armstrong, age 22, Baltimore, pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery and to being an accomplice to the use of a firearm during Hobbs Act robbery and is awaiting sentencing;
  • Terrance Lawson, age 31, Baltimore, sentenced to time served for attempting to intimidate a witness;
  • Tyrone Armstrong, age 30, Baltimore, sentenced to time served for attempting to intimidate a witness; and
  • Christopher Johnson, age 31, Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty to multiple counts including murder for hire and is awaiting sentencing;
  • Mark Johnson, 35, Baltimore, Maryland, pled guilty to obstructing the grand jury’s investigation and was sentenced to 110 months’ imprisonment;
  • Llesenia Woodard, 46, Hagerstown, Maryland, pled guilty to providing false testimony to the grand jury investigating the murders and is awaiting sentencing
  • Jerell Adgebesan, age 35, of Baltimore and Hagerstown, Maryland, pled guilty in June 2022 to Hobbs Act robbery and to being an accomplice to the use of a firearm during Hobbs Act robbery. Judge Conner sentenced Adgebesan in February 2023 to life imprisonment and a consecutive 10-year term of imprisonment;
  • Torey White, 32, of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, and Florida, was indicted on multiple counts to include murder of a witness, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, and firearms offenses. His trial is currently scheduled to commence in May 2023.
  • Yolanda Diaz, 31, Hagerstown, was indicted on multiple counts of perjury and obstruction of justice based upon her testimony at the Coles trial. Her trial is currently scheduled for May 2023.
  • Joshua Davis, age 30, previously pled guilty to participating in the conspiracy to locate and kill an individual believed to be cooperating with federal authorities in the investigation of the triple murders. Davis was sentenced to serve 100 months’ imprisonment.

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