A Charleston man spared himself the possibility of the death penalty on Monday when he admitted that he killed a police informant.
Marlon Dewayne “Ice” Dixon, 39, will spend the rest of his life in prison for the death of Branda Mae Delight Basham, 22. He pleaded guilty in federal court in Charleston to tampering with a witness or informant by killing.
The plea deal — which takes the death penalty off the table — was approved by the U.S. Attorney General’s Office, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Hanks. The deal requires that Dixon receive a life prison sentence.
West Virginia abolished capital punishment at the state level in 1965, but the federal government can still ask for it.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Johnston will sentence Dixon on March 17. He faces a $250,000 fine and Johnston can also order Dixon to pay restitution.
The charges a federal grand jury returned against Dixon last October made him eligible for the death penalty or life in prison. The Department of Justice makes the determination whether to pursue the death penalty.
Dixon and his attorneys, Claire Cardwell of Richmond, Virginia, and John Carr of Charleston, signed the deal with prosecutors in May, which called for a minimum life sentence. Late last month, after the attorney general approved of the agreement, Hanks asked the judge to schedule a guilty plea hearing. Cardwell was assigned to represent Dixon because she has experience with cases where death is a potential penalty.
Dixon admitted to one of seven charges he was indicted on. He had faced three counts of distributing heroin, two counts of tampering with a witness by killing her and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to the indictment, Dixon was convicted in federal court of distributing cocaine in 1999 and again in 2006. He was convicted in 2007 of malicious wounding in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Basham was shot three times on July 12, 2014. Her body was found close to the railroad tracks near Breece and Madison streets on Charleston’s West Side. Dixon was arrested about a week later.
“The murder of Branda Basham is another tragic reminder of the horrible impact that heroin and opioid trafficking has had on our community,” said U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin in a news release. “I want to join the prosecutors and law enforcement involved in this investigation to express my deepest condolences to the Basham family. My office remains committed, along with our partners in law enforcement, to aggressively prosecuting violent drug dealers like Marlon Dixon and to supporting treatment and recovery for those suffering from opioid addiction.”
Basham’s aunt, Tammy, said after Monday’s hearing that she preferred Dixon having to spend the rest of his life in jail.
“The death penalty is too easy,” she said.
Basham’s father, Bruce, didn’t want to speak about the case Monday, but said he looked forward to reading a victim’s impact statement at Dixon’s sentencing.
Dixon sold heroin to Basham on May 8, 16 and 20, 2014, according to a stipulation of facts he signed. Basham was working as an informant with the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team.
On May 21, 2014, police searched Dixon’s residence at 113 Delaware Ave. Dixon wasn’t home, but watched police enter his residence from a distance.
Dixon said he suspected Basham was working for police because he had sold drugs only to a few people near his house on Delaware Avenue.
On May 22, Dixon spoke on the phone with a detective and learned that he would be charged with selling heroin based on controlled purchases.
“Mr. Dixon said he was a ‘career criminal’ and wanted to see his family before he went back to jail. He advised the detective that he would surrender to police after the Memorial Day holiday weekend,” the plea agreement states.
Dixon, though, didn’t surrender to police until July 17, 2014 — five days after Basham’s body was found.
The plea agreement states that Dixon convinced Basham to meet him in a secluded stretch of railroad tracks near the 700 block of Breece Street. He then confronted Basham about working with police.
After she admitted to working with police, Dixon shot her, according to the agreement.
After the shooting, Dixon went to a house at 1020 Madison St. where he cleaned himself off, disposed of his clothing and wiped down the front door of the house.
Police searched the house the next day. Dixon had left but police seized a pair of his shoes. DNA testing showed blood on the shoes belonged to Basham, the plea deal states.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.