Brothers' trial in drug case focuses on Chicken Shack

It was a lifelong dream, or evidence of a "very large, very profitable" drug conspiracy.

Jurors in federal court were told two stories Monday about the defunct Harold's Chicken Shack on W. Broadway in Minneapolis.

Jeff Paulsen, the chief criminal attorney in the U.S. attorney's office in Minnesota, told jurors in his opening statement that the once-popular eatery that served cooked-to-order chicken, catfish, perch and shrimp was built with the proceeds of a large-scale drug-dealing organization. "And as it turns out, it was a family operation," he said.

Paulsen said it was organized by Antwoyn Spencer -- a member of the Street Kingz rap group known as "Twig" -- with the help of his brother Derrick Spencer, 25, known as D-Love or D.B. Together, the two brothers are alleged to have imported and sold hundreds of pounds of powder and crack cocaine in Minneapolis between 1998 and May of this year.

Antwoyn Spencer, 26, and his older brother, Frederick Spencer, laundered some of the proceeds of those drug sales when they built the Chicken Shack in 2004, Paulsen said.

But Robert Oleisky, who represents Frederick Spencer, 29, told jurors that Harold's Chicken Shack was the culmination of Fred's longtime dream to own a business and return something positive to north Minneapolis. He said that his client loves his brothers, but that he has a very different life story.

Fred Spencer is a graduate of DePaul University in Chicago, is studying for his master's degree in business administration at the University of Minnesota, and has a long record of working in a bank, Oleisky said. He told jurors that his client pinched pennies and borrowed the money to build the restaurant. "He's going to tell you where every dime came from."

The attorneys for Antwoyn and Derrick Spencer told jurors that the government would rely on tainted witnesses -- themselves drug dealers -- who stood to gain leniency if their testimony pleased prosecutors.

"Almost all of them have lied, and have lied repeatedly," said attorney Mark Nyvold, who represents Antwoyn Spencer.

James Sheehy, who represents Derrick Spencer, underscored the fact that one of the government's witness won't testify: an informant who allegedly participated in two "controlled buys" with his client. The man remains a fugitive.

Sheehy described his client as a young father and a rap artist who is passionate about his music. Sheehy told jurors that he remembered looking at clouds when he was a child and seeing things that weren't there. "Well, Mr. Paulsen's been staring into a cloud, and when this case is over, that cloud will vanish," he said.

Paulsen told District Judge John Tunheim that jurors would hear today from John Nguyen, a Texas drug supplier who was arrested in August 2006 in Wichita, Kan., with more than 17 pounds of cocaine hidden in a spare truck tire.

That's enough for about 80,000 $20 doses of the drug, Paulsen told jurors. He said Nguyen would testify that he was bringing it to Antwoyn Spencer, as he had done on other occasions.

Paulsen said Derrick Spencer conducted many of the street deals for Antwoyn, and described two exchanges at the Midway Shopping Center in St. Paul, when he allegedly sold drugs to the informant who has since disappeared. Paulsen said he would introduce evidence that Derrick Spencer also sold drugs in an alley in the 2600 block of Cedar Avenue S. in Minneapolis.

Using a flow chart to document the flow of tens of thousands of dollars that allegedly were used to build the Chicken Shack, Paulsen said, "That's all green folding money for which there is no legitimate source."

Dan Browning • 612-673-4493

Dan Browning • dbrowning@startribune.com