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Man Accused of Firing at Iverson Jailed on Gun, Drug Raps

Posted on: Saturday, 18 February 2006, 06:00 CST

By Michael Hinkelman, Philadelphia Daily News

Feb. 18--The man who faces trial for allegedly shooting at the Sixers' Allen Iverson and his driver outside an Old City nightclub in April 2003 was sentenced yesterday to 21 years in prison on federal gun and drug charges.

U.S. District Judge Juan R. Sanchez said Carlos Manuel Perez, 28, was a career criminal whose conduct constituted "a prime example of a total lack of respect for the law."

A little more than a week after the April 14, 2003, shooting, cops were searching for evidence to link Perez to the gunfire that wounded one of Iverson's friends. Instead, they found drugs and guns in a car Perez drove.

A federal jury convicted Perez in October of possession with intent to distribute crack, cocaine and marijuana, and possession of a loaded handgun as a tool to promote drug trafficking.

Yesterday's sentencing was for the drug case against Perez, not the shooting. He'll be tried next month for attempting to murder Iverson and Larry Robinson, A.I.'s friend.

Perez, of Ashton Road near Grant Avenue, was also fined $10,000, which he is to start paying immediately from wages earned while in prison.

Upon release from prison, Perez must report to the probation office for eight years of supervised release, undergo one drug urinalysis and two periodic tests and pay off any remainder of the fine.

Perez, a former manager at Signatures, a Center City strip club, wore a white Muslim skullcap to his sentencing. He showed no emotion as he stood.

Then, after he was handcuffed and led out of the courtroom by U.S. marshals, Perez told Assistant U.S. Attorney Linwood C. Wright Jr. as he walked past him: "I'll be back, L.C."

The government, which had argued that Perez be given a lengthy sentence because of his criminal history - seven convictions spanning two states since he was 18 - was gratified by the sentence.

Meanwhile, Perez faces another trial next month in Common Pleas Court.

Robinson, Iverson's friend, was wounded in a leg by shots allegedly fired by Perez in the early morning hours of April 14, 2003, while standing near Iverson's Bentley, outside the nightclub Glam, on 2nd Street near Chestnut.

Cops said then they believed Perez fired the shots because he was angry over an exchange of insults with Iverson.

Ten days after Perez allegedly fired at Iverson, police went to Perez's apartment looking for evidence linking him to the shooting.

Instead, they found a Marlboro duffel bag in the trunk of a green Pontiac Grand Am registered to his former girlfriend and that Perez often drove.

The bag was stuffed with 39 grams of crack, more than two pounds of cocaine and about half a pound of marijuana. Cops also found a loaded firearm with an obliterated serial number in the bag.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Philadelphia Daily News

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Source: The Philadelphia Daily News

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