 Philly rapper and record label owner, Ace Capone, was received a life sentence Thursday (April 16) for running multi-million dollar drug empire that distributed cocaine throughout several states.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, 35-year-old Capone (real name: Alton Coles) broke into tears when US District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick imposed a life sentence, plus 55 years, for charges such as heading a continuing criminal enterprise that engaged in drug trafficking, conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and weapons offenses.
In delivering the sentence, Surrick said "the amount of drugs was staggering and the money involved was even more staggering... this crime was just horrendous."
Capone, with his voice cracking, told the judge prior to sentencing, "I never thought it would come to this. I don't think life is deserved for selling drugs."
He further explained that he was a "product of his environment," and that he was "raised by the streets."
The owner of Take Down Records was convicted in March 2008 on a slew of charges. He was convicted of heading a criminal enterprise that reportedly distributed cocaine and a half-ton of crack to the streets of Philadelphia between the years of 1998 to 2005.
During his seven-week trial, prosecutors painted Capone as more than just a street-level dealer.
His criminal organization, which used his Take Down Records record label as a front, profited an estimated $25 million over the course of those years.
The cash afforded Capone lavish homes and cars -- including a $466,000 suburban home, and a $220,000 Bentley, among other things.
When investigators raided his New Jersey home in August 2005, they found more than $500,000 in cash, 10 guns and 450 grams of cocaine.
Five co-defendants, including his alleged top associate Timothy "Tim Gotti" Baukman, were also convicted and are awaiting sentencing.
Levette Todd-Johnson, the mother of his oldest son, now 14, said Capone needed rehabilitation, not life without parole. She told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he helped raise three younger brothers in Upper Darby after his family dissolved.
"He is not the monster they're making him out to be," she said. "He's not a killer. He was about the money."
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