Wednesday, September 19, 2007
News / BMF Feds: Man lied to grand jury about mayor's ex-son-in-law
Posted by Mara Shalhoup on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 3:51 PM
Documents filed Tuesday in Greenville, S.C., federal court describe how Ernest Watkins, an Atlanta man under investigation for his possible link to multistate cocaine enterprise the Black Mafia Family, allegedly lied about his involvement with convicted drug dealer Tremayne Graham and his ex-wife Kai Franklin -- who is Mayor Shirley Franklin's daughter.
Watkins was indicted last month on charges of cocaine conspiracy and perjury, the latter stemming from false statements he allegedly made while speaking with investigators and before a grand jury. A partial transcript of a 2006 grand jury hearing describes a prosecutor asking Watkins about his relationship with Graham. Watkins described Graham as a mere "acquaintance."
"Did you ever deliver cash to Tremayne Graham or Kai Graham?" the prosecutor later asked.
"No," Watkins answered.
Court documents do not indicate if any charges were filed as a result of the grand jury proceedings. At the time the grand jury met, Tremayne Graham already had pleaded guilty to federal cocaine charges filed against him in early 2004.
Kai Franklin, who divorced Graham in 2005, currently is being investigated by the IRS and U.S. attorney's office in Greenville to determine what she might have known about Graham's drug ring, which funneled drugs from L.A. to Atlanta to Greenville, according to court documents. No charges have been filed against her.
The feds also are trying to determine how much Franklin knew about the eight months her then-husband spent as a fugitive, as well as his alleged involvement in the killing of a co-defendant. Investigators believe the co-defendant, Ulysses Hackett, was considering testifying against Graham's drug crew. Hackett and his girlfriend, Misty Carter, were gunned down in September 2004, as they lay in bed at her Highland Avenue condo. Graham went on the run less than two months later, shortly before he was scheduled for trial, and was apprehended the following year in L.A.
At a Sept. 7 federal court hearing for Watkins held in Atlanta, assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Phillips alleged that Watkins supplied Graham with the gun used to kill Hackett and Carter.
According to Watkins' indictment, his 2006 testimony served to "impede an ongoing grand jury investigation" into "conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs, obstruction of justice, perjury, false statements, drug related homicides and related matters."
To date, no one has been charged in the homicides, though Graham was sentenced in April to life in prison on the drug charges arising from his 2004 indictment.
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