A federal judge today signed off on the jury's recommendation, sentencing Philly's notorious drug kingpin, Kaboni Savage, to death 13 times.
Twelve of the sentences are for murders that Savage either ordered or committed, including six relatives of an informant. The 13th is for a case of witness retaliation.
Kaboni Savage is already serving 30 years for drug trafficking.
Jurors on Friday unanimously returned 13 death sentences against Savage. He did not visibly react when the verdicts were read.
Savage, 38, a former boxer, ordered seven of the slayings from prison, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Troyer said.
"He slaughtered and burned up children just to get back at a witness, and then he laughed about it,'' Troyer said as the sentencing phase of Savage's trial got underway.
Authorities said that although Savage has mostly been in prison since 2003, he gave orders through phone calls and prison visits and communicated with other inmates through prison plumbing pipes.
Federal prosecutors arguing for the death penalty said prison cannot contain Savage's rage.
Savage's attorneys are expected to try and get his sentence overturned.
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