Philadelphia DA Won't Try To Restore Charges Against 1 'Basement of Horrors' Figure
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia district attorney's office says it will not try to get new charges filed against one defendant who was cut loose from the local "Basement of Horrors" fraud and kidnapping case on Tuesday.
After a two-day preliminary hearing, Judge Patrick Dugan dismissed all charges against Eddie Wright, a drifter who was charged along with the main defendant, Linda Weston; her daughter, Jean McIntyre; and Weston's boyfriend, Gregory Thomas, after a group of mentally challenged adults were found last October being held captive in the basement of a Philadelphia rowhouse (see related stories).
The other three defendants were ordered held for trial.
The judge said he couldn't hold Wright for trial "in good conscience" because when Wright was in Philadelphia, "he was one of the victims."
But, sources say, Wright could still face federal prosecution, since the alleged scheme also was carried out in Florida, Texas, and Virginia, and Wright may have played a part in those locations.
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