From Michael Hinkelman, The Philadelphia Daily News:
Chanell Cunningham, former paramour and business partner of East Coast drug kingpin Maurice Phillips, was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on federal drug trafficking charges yesterday.
Cunningham has been in federal custody since September 2007, and was a star witness among those who testified against Phillips at his trial in February. Had she not cooperated, Cunningham faced up to 30 years in prison.
The 37-year-old – a one-time vamp of the Philadelphia drug underworld who told jurors she dated only drug dealers – pleaded guilty in March 2009 to drug conspiracy and money-laundering offenses.
Her testimony helped prosecutors sentence Phillips to five life terms for running a $31 million, multi-state cocaine-trafficking organization and for hiring a hit man to kill a cooperating witness.
U.S. District Judge Curtis Joyner was harshly critical towards Cunningham at the sentencing. “You were living large, enjoying the benefits of the company,” he said. “You lived with the bad guys and played with them. You were stylin’ and profilin’.”
