Kaboni Savage, a drug kingpin convicted on 12 counts of murder, was sentenced to death earlier this month.
Today, a jury unanimously agree that one of his co-defendants should spend his life behind bars.
Steven Northington, 41, was found guilty in the murders of Barry Parker and Tybius Flower, along with Racketeering conspiracy.
“In this case, after convicting the defendants of crimes involving murder, the jurors chose death for Kaboni Savage and life for Stephen Northington, said U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger.
"The defendants’ horrific conduct struck at the very heart of our criminal justice system which depends on witnesses testifying without fearing for their lives or the lives of their family members," said Memeger, in a release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Savage is the first person in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to receive the death penalty in federal court. Prosecutors say Savage ordered a deadly firebombing in 2004 that killed a federal witness and his family.
“They thought no more of taking lives than of taking a phone call. After more than a decade of brutality, Northington’s life sentence and Savage’s death sentences are justly deserved," Edward J. Hanko, FBI Special Agent in Charge.
Other co-defendants Kidada Savage, Kaboni's sister, and Robert Merritt are both facing mandatory life sentences.
Northington will be formally sentenced on June 19.
