HOUSTON – A federal jury has convicted a 50-year-old Houston man on multiple violent crimes related to a drug trafficking conspiracy, including murder for hire, the United States Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani said Ronald Brown, also known as Nuk, Nook, or Nookie, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, intentional killing related to drug trafficking, two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a murder, kidnapping and using a firearm in relation to the kidnapping as well as conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.
During the six-day trial, the jury reportedly heard from several witnesses who testified about working directly for Brown. He was responsible for moving as much as 100 to 200 kilograms of cocaine each week from Houston to Atlanta, Georgia, on 18-wheeler trucks and car haulers. Once in Atlanta, his associates would divide the shipments before delivering them to Brown’s customers, investigators said.
In December 2013, law enforcement seized 21 kilograms of cocaine from one of Brown’s associates who had placed the bag in a vehicle at a Valero gas station. Authorities said Brown was upset by the loss and sidelined him from the drug operation at that time.
The jury also heard testimony from one of Brown’s drivers, who was allegedly robbed of about 56 kilograms of cocaine on April 18, 2014. Brown suspected the same person who lost the drugs at the Valero and another drug associate conspired to steal the cocaine from him, Hamdani said.
On April 23, 2014, investigators said Brown and others kidnapped the alleged associate, zip-tied his arms and legs, and put him in the trunk of Brown’s girlfriend’s vehicle. A good Samaritan picked up the victim and attempted to drive him to safety after he managed to free himself from the trunk. However, Brown allegedly pursued and shot at them repeatedly, ultimately striking the good Samaritan in the upper body and the associate in the head. Both survived.
One of the kidnappers told the jury he met Brown after the kidnapping. Brown allegedly directed him to dump the vehicle and gun used during the shooting. He also directed his girlfriend to report the vehicle as stolen, authorities said.
Following the failed attempt to kill his associate, Brown began searching for the other man from the Valero incident, whom he also thought was part of the alleged theft on April 18, in order to reclaim his drugs. He ultimately decided he wanted to kill him. Hamdani said testimony revealed Brown was able to obtain the date of the man’s next parole visit. Through a middleman, Brown then allegedly hired a shooter and provided him with a handgun. Following that parole visit on July 1, 2014, the victim reportedly returned to his vehicle in the parking lot. The shooter then fired multiple shots at close range at the victim as he sat in the driver’s seat. He died at the scene, investigators said.
Afterward, authorities said Brown met the shooter and middleman in the parking lot of a grocery store and paid them $20,000.
The defense attempted to convince the jury that other members of Brown’s drug trafficking organization orchestrated the kidnapping and murder. They didn’t believe those claims and found Brown guilty.
“Stuffing a zip-tied man into a trunk, raining down gunfire during a car chase and hiring a murderer…all part of Ronald Brown’s illicit cocaine business,” said Hamdani. “People like him destroy communities with the poison they sell and the violence they commit. Brown’s actions cut short someone’s life and put others in peril. And now, thanks to the hard work of federal prosecutors and law enforcement, the only thing in peril is Brown’s freedom.”
Senior U.S. District Judge Sim Lake presided over the trial and set sentencing for Jan. 29, 2024. At that time, he will get life in a federal prison. Brown has been and will remain in custody pending that hearing.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sebastian A. Edwards and Britni Cooper are prosecuting the case.