Helena man gets prison time for role in drug ring

A Phillips County man was sentenced Monday to 11 years in federal prison for his role in a wide-ranging drug conspiracy case involving reputed members and associates of a violent street gang associated with Arkansas rap artist “Bankroll Freddie” Gladney III and his father, Freddie Gladney Jr.

Antonio Rattler, 40, of Helena-West Helena was one of 35 people indicted Nov. 1, 2022, as part of an investigation targeting the street gang EBK — Every Body Killas — over suspicions of large-scale drug trafficking in and around Central Arkansas. Rattler was charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and use of a communications facility in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He pleaded guilty to the conspiracy count before U.S. District Judge James M. Moody Jr. on Jan. 31 and faced a maximum potential prison term of 20 years.

At his plea hearing, Rattler admitted to conspiring with co-defendants Gladney Jr., Angel King and others to distribute at least 200 grams of cocaine.

On Monday, Moody said that Rattler — who has prior convictions for second-degree murder and drug trafficking — was subject to a sentencing adjustment as a career offender which gave him an advisory guideline sentencing range between a minimum of 11 years, 7 months and a maximum of 15 years, 8 months in prison. Rattler’s attorney, Charles Allen Jr. of Helena-West Helena, asked Moody to consider a sentence of 108 months, 42 months below the minimum guideline recommendation of 151 months.

“This is a difficult case in that before 2011 he didn’t have any priors,” Allen said. “He was convicted in 2012 of a second-degree murder charge and while there’s never an excuse for violence and murder, his sister was shot and killed and his daughter was shot.”

Allen said if not for the murder conviction, Rattler would have likely been facing an advisory guideline sentencing range of 24 to 30 months. Despite that, Allen said, Rattler had never expressed anger about the sentencing enhancement, but, “from day one he has admitted his responsibility.”

The attorney said that Rattler, who has an eighthgrade education, was easily influenced by others and had had difficulty finding a job in the economically depressed Arkansas Delta.

“He is easily taken advantage of,” Allen said. “He did what they said he did but he didn’t have any money … He had to live.”

Upon his release from prison on the murder conviction, Allen said, Rattler did temporary work before moving back to Helena and going to work for a construction company which later closed, putting him out of work. Following that, Allen said, Rattler then went to work for the city dog pound.

“I’m sure you’ve seen the problems we’ve had,” he told Moody. “We couldn’t fund the dog pound. In fact, recently, whatever was left of it, they came and repossessed it.”

Rattler’s mother, Helen Willis of Helena-West Helena, told Moody her son’s problems stemmed from a lack of education and a low I.Q., which she said left him vulnerable to being taken advantage of by others.

“I acknowledge … he broke the law and he has to serve some time for doing that but I’m asking for leniency,” Willis said. “His involvement was to try to make a living but … with all the stuff he was charged with doing he doesn’t have anything to show for it.”

“I know I did wrong,” Rattler told Moody. “I really just wanted to provide for my family … I messed up.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Peters, arguing against leniency, said the case was a difficult one for the U.S. and, “a little bit of a strange situation,” in that 12 years ago, she had prosecuted Rattler for drug conspiracy before Moody’s father, retired U.S. District Judge James M. Moody Sr. In that case, she said, the elder Moody had agreed to sentence Rattler concurrently with his sentence for second-degree murder. For that reason, she said, the U.S. government’s position was that Rattler should be sentenced within the guideline range, saying that he “didn’t get the message,” the first time and “now we’re back and the same information is being cited for leniency.”

“His conduct is indefensible,” she said. “He is indeed a career offender. He comes to the court having already been convicted of drug conspiracy in a wiretap case in the same area of town.

“It’s hard for us to see where we can recommend a downward variance or leniency,” Peters continued, “and indeed, I’m not authorized to do so.”

In addition, Peters said, she feared a lenient sentence would send the wrong message to others in the Phillips County town, which she said has been “ravaged by drugs.”

In addition to 132 months in prison, Moody ordered Rattler to serve three years supervised release after he completes his prison term.

“This, what I would call a slightly downward variance, is justified not necessarily on what I would call the quality of Mr. Rattler’s criminal history,” Moody said. “He only has two offenses that I can tell really amounted to much but they did amount to a lot in making him a career offender. They are both serious crimes and this is a serious crime. This is the second time you’ve been convicted of distributing illicit drugs.”