A convicted felon who got a favorable plea bargain after helping Pierce County authorities crack down on the Hilltop Crips street gang is back in jail, facing charges of dealing drugs and gun theft.
Curtis D. Hudson, 24, has court appearances later this week. He’s charged with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, theft of a firearm and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
Hudson has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is being held in the Pierce County Jail in lieu of bails totaling $225,000.
Prosecutors allege he sold 16 oxycodone pills in March to a confidential informant in Lakewood. Officers found another 12 oxycodone pills on Hudson after they arrested him, court records state.
They also said he helped an acquaintance steal a semiautomatic pistol from a car parked at the Tacoma Mall in December. He and his co-defendant allegedly traded the gun for drugs and cash, which they split, records show.
Hudson was a key player in authorities’ efforts to gut the Hilltop Crips in 2010. He provided vital information and testimony against his fellow gang members, helping prosecutors win more than 30 felony convictions, court records show.
Hudson originally was charged with 20 crimes – first-degree robbery and second-degree assault among them – as part of the case and entered guilty pleas to all of them in March 2010. Prosecutors also attached aggravating factors to his crimes, which qualified him for sentences outside the standard range, likely decades in prison.
Prosecutors later dropped all but one charge against Hudson and recommended he be sentenced to time served – about a year in jail – in February 2011. He was released that same month.
“Although Curtis committed many serious crimes himself, the state acknowledges the courage he has shown in standing up to the gang and gang culture and the larger benefit to the community Curtis’ actions have provided,” Deputy Prosecutor Gregory Greer wrote in a 2011 statement supporting the plea deal.
adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com 253-597-8644
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