Defendant arrested as part of Operation “In The House”
A Superior Court jury has convicted one of the members of an organized criminal enterprise once operating in Sussex and Kent Counties on 21 charges related to a home invasion and murder in 2014.
Rhamir Waples, 20, of Philadelphia was arrested as part of Operation “In The House,” a multi-jurisdictional effort designed to fight violent crime including racketeering, murder, home invasion robbery, illegal weapons possession, and the distribution of illegal narcotics.
In January 2014, Waples and two co-defendants, Damon Bethea and Richard Robinson broke into the Millsboro home of Cletis Nelson and William Hopkins to steal money and drugs then shot both men while in the house.
Deputy Attorneys General Christopher Hutchison and Martin Cosgrove secured the guilty verdict to two counts of Murder First Degree, two counts of Robbery First Degree, Home Invasion, 15 counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, and one count of Conspiracy Second Degree. Because he was 17 at the time of the murder, Waples faces 57 years to life in prison, instead of an automatic life sentence.
“I want to thank Deputy Attorneys General Hutchison and Cosgrove for their diligent work in earning this conviction,” said Attorney General Matt Denn. “I also want to thank the Delaware State Police, along with the Dover, Georgetown, and Philadelphia Police Departments, the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals, Department of Correction Probation and Parole, and the Sussex Correctional Institution who all worked together on this operation. The Delaware Department of Justice will continue to work with its law enforcement colleagues to pursue cases against criminal enterprises.”