Jean McIntosh
A woman who helped imprison, beat and starve disabled people in a dungeon-like Tacony basement while stealing their government benefits pleaded guilty to dozens of federal crimes on Dec. 22.
Jean McIntosh, 35, admitted that she conspired with her mother and three men in a roving, 10-year scheme to kidnap, abuse and subjugate at least nine mentally disabled adults and children, including two who died while in captivity. The crimes allegedly began in Philadelphia before the conspirators transported victims to Texas, Virginia and Florida, then back to Philly, where police found four of the emaciated survivors in the squalid boiler room of a Longshore Avenue apartment building in October 2011.
McIntosh’s mother, Linda Weston, was the alleged ringleader, while McIntosh was Weston’s “right-hand woman,” prosecutors have said. Weston, 54, awaits trial in the case, as do co-defendants Gregory Thomas Sr., 51; Eddie Wright, 54; and Nicklaus Woodard, 28. A trial date has not been set. All were charged federally in a 196-count indictment in January 2013.
McIntosh faces a mandatory life prison sentence. U.S. District Judge Cynthia R. Rufe has not set a formal sentencing date. Thomas, Wright and Woodard also face life in prison, if convicted, while Weston could be sentenced to death because she is the only one charged with murder. Prosecutors have not disclosed whether they intend to seek the death penalty.
McIntosh pleaded guilty to racketeering, conspiracy, involuntary servitude, forced human labor and theft from the government, along with multiple counts each of hate crimes, kidnapping, violence in the aid of racketeering, assault with a deadly weapon, wire fraud and mail fraud.
According to prosecutors, Weston and her boyfriend, Thomas, would identify mentally disabled victims by various means, such as meeting them on the street, and would entice them to live with their “family,” luring victims with promises of companionship and care. The defendants then “used isolation, intimidation, threats of violence and (actual) violence to control the victims,” according to the indictment. Weston allegedly forced victims to surrender their Social Security benefits checks to her.
The crimes began at least as early as fall 2001 and continued until Oct. 15, 2011, when a suspicious landlord called Philadelphia police, who went to the Longshore Avenue building and found four adults living on soiled mattresses and the hard floor of a locked, dark, damp, cold and rancid sub-basement. One of the victims was chained to a boiler.
Court documents identify the two fatalities only by their initials. In April 2005, Weston and Thomas allegedly saw a woman, “D.S.,” standing on a Philly street corner and persuaded her to come with them to 2211 Glenview St. in Castor Gardens. D.S. died there two months later. Weston allegedly directed the conspirators to place the victim in a bed and stage an accidental drug overdose before they called police.
Another woman, identified as “M.L.,” also died while with the Weston group, prosecutors claim. The conspirators allegedly kidnapped M.L. in Philadelphia in 2002 and transported her with other victims to Norfolk, Va., in 2008. M.L. died there that year from meningitis and starvation. Like the earlier death, Weston allegedly directed the conspirators to stage a death scene in a bedroom before contacting local authorities. The next day, Weston allegedly moved the survivors back to Philly.
During the decade, the group also spent time in Killeen, Texas, and West Palm Beach, Fla. Court documents state that Wright was from Killeen and Woodard from West Palm. Wright, who Philadelphia authorities once described as a homeless “street preacher,” was arrested with Weston, Thomas and McIntyre in the aftermath of the Longshore Avenue discovery. Woodard was arrested separately. ••
