NORRISTOWN — Arguing he is a danger to society and that conduct like his can have a “chilling effect” on law enforcement investigations, prosecutors are seeking up to eight decades in prison against a Lower Merion man convicted of charges he was the mastermind of a plot to kill a Norristown woman who cooperated with detectives in a gun and drug investigation.
Montgomery County Deputy District Attorney Kelly S. Lloyd revealed in court papers that she plans to seek a 40-to-80-year prison term against Joseph Lee “Dream” Wesley, 40, of the unit block of South Merion Avenue, who was convicted by a jury of charges of attempted murder, solicitation to commit murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the 5 p.m. Dec. 2, 2016, shooting and wounding of a Norristown woman, who cooperated with detectives in a previous gun investigation targeting Wesley, as she sat in a vehicle on Haws Avenue in Norristown.
The woman and a male companion survived the assault but suffered serious bodily injury.
“Contracting to kill a commonwealth witness in order to silence their testimony is one of the most dangerous crimes one can commit. The chilling effect that an attempted murder of a confidential informant has on the cooperation with law enforcement cannot be overstated,” Lloyd wrote in court papers, explaining successful investigations and prosecutions of illegal drug and gun crimes depend in large part on confidential informants.
Attacks against confidential informants deter potential informants from working with police, Lloyd and co-prosecutor Danton Lee Moyer argued.
“As a result, when confidential informants or other individuals are afraid to cooperate with police, investigations or prosecutions are not able to be advanced. The ripple effects of violence against confidential informants go beyond confidential informants – they affect any person who would otherwise be willing to report crimes to the police. Even concerned citizens are dissuaded from reporting crimes to the police when individuals are attacked for working with the police,” Lloyd wrote.
Wesley, who was convicted by a jury in November, faces a sentencing hearing next week before Judge Wendy G. Rothstein.
With its verdict, the jury found that Wesley hired a man to kill the female witness. But the man Wesley hired then hired a third man who actually carried out the shooting.
Wesley, who is represented by defense lawyer Michael Anthony Walker, testified during the trial and denied his involvement in the shooting. Walker suggested witnesses who testified against Wesley provided inconsistent statements throughout the investigation and that their testimony could not be trusted.
The investigation of Wesley began in April 2016 when county detectives met with the female confidential informant regarding drugs and guns being distributed in Montgomery County. The informant agreed to cooperate with investigators and had text message conversations with Wesley in April and June 2016 during which Wesley included prices for the guns and photos of the guns he wanted to sell, including two assault rifles, according to a criminal complaint.
Wesley ultimately delivered cocaine and the 9mm handgun to the informant during a June 2016 meeting in Norristown, according to court papers.
Detectives alleged Wesley then conspired in the murder-for-hire plot when he learned the female informant was cooperating with detectives during the investigation of Wesley’s alleged dealings with firearms and drug deliveries.
Prosecutors said Wesley solicited Darelle Tyrone Bean, 36, of the 100 block of North Second Street, Darby, Delaware County, and agreed to pay Bean $5,000 to kill the Norristown woman.
“(Wesley) decided that his freedom was more valuable than her life. Defendant reduced the value of (the woman’s) life to $5,000,” Lloyd argued.
But when Bean learned the person he was recruited to kill was a female, he had a change of heart and instead solicited another man, Cesar A. Morales, to carry out the deed and the two of them traveled to Norristown with the intent to shoot and kill the Norristown woman on Dec. 2, 2016, according to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective David Holtzman and former Norristown Detective Kathleen Kelly, who is now a county detective.
Bean previously pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and person not to possess a firearm in connection with the shooting and wounding of the Norristown woman and her male companion. With his guilty plea, Bean specifically admitted that he was hired by Wesley to kill a police informant and admitted he was present when Morales fired the gunshots. Bean previously was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison.
Morales, 37, of the 2300 block of West Third Street, Chester, Delaware County, previously pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, essentially admitting to being the gunman. Morales previously was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison.
Bean and Morales each testified against Wesley during Wesley’s trial.
Lloyd argued “it would be a true injustice” for Wesley, “the individual responsible for putting the wheels in motion for this horrible, egregious behavior,” to receive a lesser sentence than those “who did the proverbial ‘dirty work’” for him.
Without Wesley’s “determination that his freedom was more valuable” than the victim’s life, Bean and Morales would not have been involved in the crime, Lloyd and Moyer argued.
“Anything less than 40-80 years for the catalyst in this criminal episode would be truly unfair,” Lloyd wrote in the sentencing memorandum.
Prosecutors are seeking consecutive sentences to represent each of the two victims.
“The facts of this case are particularly egregious and the impact that these crimes had was substantial on the lives of both victims,” Lloyd argued, adding the victims suffered physical and lasting emotional scars. “A sentence of significant total incarceration is necessary to account for the protection of the public from defendant’s violence.”
The investigation began when Norristown police responded to the Haws Avenue location for a shooting in progress.
Police learned that the Norristown woman, a passenger in a Jeep Cherokee, suffered gunshot wounds to her right hand and left bicep while her male companion, who was in the driver’s seat, suffered wounds to his torso and his right leg. The pair had just exited a Haws Avenue residence and gotten into the Jeep to go to a store when they were ambushed, according to court papers.
The male victim immediately drove the pair to a local hospital and they survived the attack.
Investigators used social media posts, video surveillance cameras in the vicinity of the shooting and cellphone analysis data to link Wesley, Bean and Morales to the shooting plot. Cellphone records placed Bean and Morales in the area of Haws Avenue at the time of the shooting, according to a criminal complaint.
Video surveillance depicted Morales, the passenger, and Bean, the driver, exiting a burgundy Chevrolet Impala parked in the 400 block of West Lafayette Street and walking toward Haws Avenue at about 4:53 p.m. Dec. 2. Morales, at 5:08 p.m., is observed running from the Haws Avenue area where the shooting occurred back to the Impala, “holding something in his jacket pocket with his left hand,” according to the criminal complaint.
Detectives “believe Morales had his left hand in his jacket pocket to secure a firearm while running,” according to the arrest affidavit. Video surveillance depicted Bean returning to the Impala at 5:10 p.m. and the pair then fled the area to Darby and Chester in Delaware County, detectives alleged.
Cellular telephone records showed Bean’s cellular telephone having contact with Wesley’s cellphone immediately after the shooting.
Wesley fled to Louisiana after the shooting and he was subsequently apprehended there.
In September 2018, Wesley, while awaiting trial for his role in the murder-for-hire plot, was sentenced to 51-to-102 months in prison after he was convicted of charges of illegal sale or transfer of firearms, conspiracy and possession with intent to deliver cocaine in connection with previous incidents that occurred in April 2016 in Lower Merion and Norristown.
With the gun and weapons charges, prosecutors alleged Wesley delivered a half-ounce of cocaine and a 9mm semiautomatic handgun to the female informant who was working with detectives.
