As convicted Mobile drug kingpin changes mind about representing himself, judge sentences 2 co-defendants

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - After months of acting as his own attorney – including during his three-week trial in January – convicted kingpin Glennie Antonio “Little Man” McGee said Thursday that he has hired a lawyer to represent him.

McGee, 42, said he expected attorney Christine Hernandez to be with him at his sentencing hearing. U.S. District Judge Terry Moorer told McGee that Hernandez’s staff informed the court that she was representing the defendant on appeal, not for the sentencing hearing. The confusion prompted the judge to reschedule McGee’s hearing for Friday.

That left McGee a spectator in the courtroom as Moorer handed down stiff punishments to a pair of his relatives. The judge sentenced his wife Echandza Dianca Maxie to life in prison for her role in her husband’s drug conspiracy. His sister-in-law, Edeszann Dailene Maxie, received a prison term longer than what prosecutors recommended.

Echandza Maxie: Defiant

Given a chance to speak before sentencing, Echandza Maxie struck a defiant tone.

“I’ve heard so many allegations about myself throughout this courtroom, and I do feel like I’ve been mistreated,” she said.

Maxie said she and McGee have four children together but that he was not living with her at the time. She said she first became aware of the details of her husband’s drug distribution organization when she saw news reports about the arrest of Tierra Tocorra Hill in 2024. That same day, law enforcement officers found a 3-year-old boy wearing a backpack full of drugs at a “stash house” on Harvey Court near Henry Aaron Park.

“He wasn’t being honest with me about what was going on,” she said. “I don’t know anything about cocaine. I don’t know anything about fentanyl.”

Moorer rejected defense attorney Yancey Burnett’s contention that his client played a minor role in the drug enterprise. Moorer said the evidence was clear that she was responsible for “hundreds upon hundreds of kilograms” of cocaine and fentanyl. He suggested he was particularly troubled by a conversation that investigators secretly recorded in which Maxie told one of her children that she was upset that Hill was using her children to carry drugs.

Moorer noted that Maxie was not upset by the conduct itself but expressed concerns that a mother in her position would be more likely to tell investigators whatever she had to in order to avoid losing her children.

“She was not a minor participant,” the judge said. “I see her as someone who was at the top of the conspiracy – co-equal, in some ways, to her husband.”

In addition to the jury’s verdict in the drug conspiracy case, Maxie subsequently pleaded guilty to cheating the government by filing fraudulent tax returns and bogus applications for a pair of COVID-19 relief programs. The judge imposed an additional concurrent 20-year sentence in the fraud case, followed by two years for aggravated identity theft. He fined her $1 million and ordered her to pay restitution to the government of more than $1.8 million.

Moorer said Maxie used ill-gotten gains to fund a lavish lifestyle of cash, jewelry and travel to exotic locales.

“She is the quintessential federal defendant. … Federal defendants tend to be professional criminals,” he said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Roller argued that evidence from the trial showed that Maxie was intimately involved in her husband’s drug enterprise and went so far as to involve her own minor nephew in an effort to hide a gun before law enforcement officers arrived with a search warrant at the teenager’s apartment.

Roller also argued that Maxie’s devious behavior did not stop even after her arrest. He pointed to evidence that after a magistrate judge allowed her to remain free pending trial, Maxie used an alias to have unauthorized conversations with co-conspirators, declaring which ones were “cooperating” and which ones were “standing firm.”

Said Roller: “Obstruction of justice has been woven through this case.”

A longtime friend and one of Maxie’s brothers both testified on her behalf, telling the judge that she stepped up after losing both of her parents and ensured that her younger siblings finished high school. Maxie said she has worked since she was 14, often at two or three jobs at a time. She said she worked hard to become a tax preparer and later got a real estate license.

Burnett said outside the courtroom that his client was disappointed but prepared for the possibility of a harsh sentence.

“It was a recommendation by the government and, you know, we have some familiarity with the reputation of the judge,” he said. “So, you know, it wasn’t that big a surprise.”

Edeszann Maxie: ‘Without remorse’

Edeszann Maxie pleaded guilty in January to two counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. She admitted that she filed false tax returns claiming a sick leave and family leave tax credit Congress created to help victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. She admitted that she used TurboTax and falsely claimed that the taxpayers were self-filing tax returns.

Maxie also admitted that she fraudulently applied for and obtained multiple loans under the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, a pair of other COVID-era relief programs.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Kopf said co-conspirators took advantage of unsophisticated people, one of whom told investigators he paid a $10,000 fee for the defendants to prepare his tax return.

“These are victims who are old, disabled. … They used these people as vessels to commit the crimes,” Kopf told the judge. “These are vulnerable people.”

Defense attorney Michael Pylant disputed the contention that the people named on the tax returns were pure victims. He objected to a sentencing enhancement, noting that one victim named in the written plea agreement is a convicted felon.

“You can’t punish Edeszann for defrauding someone who was more akin to a co-conspirator than a victim,” he said.

Maxie apologized for her conduct.

“It’s not one of my best moments,” she told the judge. “It was definitely a dark period when I did lose sight of my integrity and my character.”

But Moorer said he views Maxie as “completely without remorse.” He sentenced her to 13 years and three months in prison, which is the upper end of the advisory guideline range and beyond what prosecutors sought. He also imposed more than $1.8 million in restitution.

“Choices have consequences,” he said. “Ms. Maxie chose to violate the law. And she not only violated the law, she violated it several times. In essence, she lied and she stole.”

Pylant declined to comment after the hearing.

Burnett said Echandza Maxie plans to appeal her conviction. He said prosecutors blurred the distinction between awareness of a conspiracy and participation in it.

“She did witness certain things and she did know certain things, but that doesn’t mean that she was part of the conspiracy,” he said. “It just means that she knew certain things. That makes her a witness. Means that she knew things, but that doesn’t mean she was part of the conspiracy.”