OAKLAND - Oscar Baker Phillips was sentenced on May 20, 2013, to thirty months in prison, followed by six years of supervised release, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.
Phillips pleaded guilty on March 5, 2013, to distribution of crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school. The guilty plea before Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore was accepted by District Court Judge Saundra B. Armstrong on May 20, 2013. In the plea agreement, Phillips admitted that on July 3, 2012, while at a location on Sycamore Street in Oakland, he knowingly sold 0.27 grams of cocaine base for $20.00. The location is within 1,000 feet of the St. Andrew’s Baptist Missionary Elementary School and Kindergarten in Oakland, California.
Phillips, 34, most recently a resident of Sacramento, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 25, 2012. Phillips was on probation at the time of the instant offense, and has four prior misdemeanor convictions and three prior felony convictions, including domestic violence and narcotics-related offenses.
The sentence was handed down by District Court Judge Saundra B. Armstrong following a guilty plea to one count of violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 860(a). Phillips has been in continuous federal custody since his initial appearance on the indictment.
Phillips was the eighth defendant to be sentenced in the last 18 months as part of Operation Safe Schools, an ongoing series of cases targeting drug trafficking near schools in high-crime areas.
Steven Booker was sentenced on Jan. 25, 2012, to 27 months in prison, followed by six years of supervised release, for selling 0.5 grams of crack cocaine in the vicinity of 96th Avenue and Birch Street in Oakland, California, within 1,000 feet of Elmhurst Community Preparatory School. Case No. CR 11-00768-CW.
Demone Crump was sentenced on Feb. 15, 2012, to 12 months in prison, followed by six years of supervised release, for selling 0.75 grams of crack cocaine in the vicinity of 24th and Myrtle Streets in Oakland, California, within 1,000 feet of McClymonds High School. Case No. CR 11-00765-PJH
Taronta Greely was sentenced on Feb. 15, 2012, to 12 months and one day in prison, followed by six years of supervised release, for selling 0.76 grams of crack cocaine in the vicinity of Jefferson Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Oakland, California, within 1,000 feet of both the Bright Future Early Learning Center and Devry University. Case No. CR 11-00766-SBA.
Clifford Nivens was sentenced on Feb. 28, 2012, to 15 months, followed by six years of supervised release, for selling 0.55 grams of crack cocaine in the vicinity of 32nd and West Streets in Oakland, California, within 1,000 feet of Hoover Elementary School. Case No. CR 11-0762-CW.
Rondell Bullard was sentenced on May 15, 2012, to 18 months in prison, followed by six years of supervised release, for selling 0.43 grams of crack cocaine in the vicinity of 32nd and West Streets in Oakland, California, within 1,000 feet of Hoover Elementary School. Case No. CR 11-00767-CW.
Yohannes Randy Herald was sentenced on Oct. 19, 2012, to 33 months, followed by six years of supervised release, for selling 0.94 grams of crack cocaine in the vicinity of 8th and Henry Streets in Oakland, California, within 1,000 feet of Prescott Elementary School. Case No. CR 11-00763-SBA.
Michael Baca was sentenced on Nov. 26, 2012, to 12 months and 1 day, followed by six years of supervised release, for selling 44 pills of Carisoprodol in the 24000 block of Soto Road in Hayward, California, within 1,000 feet of Fairview Elementary School. Case No. CR 12-0603-CW.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
