Wichita, Kansas
April 15, 2009
Five members of Crips street gangs in Wichita have been found guilty on conspiracy to engage in racketeering and other charges; a sixth defendant was convicted on a firearms charge.
A federal jury returned a verdict Wednesday morning in Wichita, ending a trial that began Feb. 24, and went to the jury on March 30. The verdict marks the second time in Kansas that a jury has found street gang-members guilty of racketeering. Last November, the first trial ended in the convictions of three members of the Crips: Clinton A.D. Knight, Tracy Harris, and Chester Randall, Jr.
Both trials were the result of charges brought after a major investigation by the Wichita Police Department into gang crimes. Last May 2008, Wichita police and the U.S. Attorney’s office teamed up to file the first federal indictments in state history under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
The indictments alleged that the defendants and other members of Crips street gangs in Wichita conspired to create and maintain through acts of violence and intimidation a drug trafficking operation.
“The Wichita Police are encouraged by today’s guilty verdicts,” said police chief Norman Williams. “Over the past 21 years, these criminal gangs have used fear, intimidation, and violence to terrorize our community. Today’s verdicts reflect the tremendous partnership between federal, local and state law enforcement agencies that have worked together for many years to bring these people to justice.”
The jury returned the following verdicts:
*Jonearl Smith, 30, Wichita: guilty on one count of conspiracy to engage in racketeering, and one count of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. He was found not guilty on one count of conspiracy to distribute marijuana. The jury did not reach a verdict on one count of participating in a racketeering influenced and corrupt organization.
*Lonnie Wade, 29, Wichita: guilty on one count of conspiracy to engage in racketeering, one count of maintaining 1815 E. 23rd in furtherance of drug trafficking, and two counts of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. He was found not guilty on one count of maintaining 505 N. Rock Road, Apt. 1111 in furtherance of drug trafficking. The jury did not reach a verdict on one count of participating in a racketeering influenced and corrupt organization.
*Corey Cornelius, 30, Wichita: guilty on one count of conspiracy to engage in racketeering, one count of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and one count of conspiracy to distribute marijuana. The jury did not reach a verdict on one count of participating in a racketeering influenced and corrupt organization.
*Darryn Frierson, 36, Wichita: guilty on one count of conspiracy to engage in racketeering, one count of distribution of cocaine, one count of distribution of crack cocaine, two counts of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, one count of maintaining 2249 N. Minneapolis in furtherance of drug trafficking, and two counts of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. He was found not guilty on one count of conspiracy to distribute marijuana. The jury did not reach a verdict on one count of engaging in racketeering.
*Calvin Williams, 29, Wichita: guilty on one count of conspiracy to engage in racketeering. He was found not guilty on one count of threatening a witness, and one count of threatening a person for information relating to a crime against a law enforcement officer. The jury did not reach a verdict on one count of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and one count of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.
*Jermall Campbell, 27, Wichita: guilty on one count of unlawful possession of ammunition after a felony conviction. He was found not guilty on one count of racketeering, one count of conspiracy to engage in racketeering, and one count of murder.
Some defendants are facing mandatory minimum sentences because of prior convictions.
The Wichita Police Department led the federal investigation. The police department’s Cold Case Task Force also included members from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; Housing and Urban Development - Office of Inspector General; Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office; the U.S. Marshal Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Also assisting with the investigation were the Kansas Department of Health and Human Services; the state Bureau of Alcohol Beverage Control; the Kansas Attorney General’s Office; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office and other agencies.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Graffiti tagger David Miera sentenced to life in prison for 2006 shooting death
WestWord.com
By Jared Jacang Maher in Follow That StoryFriday, Apr. 3 2009 @ 2:25PM
Battles between tagging crews can sometime get violent in West Denver.
A member of a West Denver tagging crew will have lots of time to work in his blackbook after being sentenced to life in prison yesterday.
A Jefferson County judge slapped twenty-year-old David Miera Jr. with a life sentence plus 32 years for being the triggerman in a 2006 shooting that killed one man and caused serious injury to another.
Miera belonged to EMS, a loose collection of as many as 200 taggers known for scrawling their insignia on property across Denver's west side. Such crews are known within the graffiti community and among law enforcement as "tagbangers" for their low spray can skills -- no "pieces," just ugly tags -- and propensity for gang-like violence. For the past several years, EMS has been in heavy competition with rival crew WKS for turf and respect. In 2006, this escalated from the walls (the traditional way crews do battle) into stabbings and shootings.
Westword chronicled some of the drama in the June 2007 story, "Tagging up Denver." Here's an excerpt from that article:
At last summer's Taste of Colorado festival, a rumble between more than two dozen WKS and EMS members resulted in one teen getting stabbed. And on December 17, Jonathan "Roman" MacLagan was shot to death at a Littleton house party after breaking up a fight between rival crews. The twenty-year-old Kennedy High School grad "was a peacemaker at heart," says one of MacLagan's friends. "He wasn't down for fighting. He was a good homie like that."
Miera, then nineteen, was arrested five days later by Jefferson County deputies for the shooting death of MacLagan. According to an arrest affidavit, he told police that he and other EMS members became angry after not being admitted to a party. As they left, Miera says he fired a shotgun from the back window of an SUV intending to hit Moke, a member of WKS. Instead, the blast hit MacLagan in the head, killing him. "It wasn't meant for Roman, it was meant for Moke," Miera told investigators. He is currently awaiting a plea hearing on charges of first-degree murder.
In February, a jury found Miera guilty on several charges, including the first-degree murder of MacLagan and the first-degree assault of Carlos Sanchez, who was also shot but survived. The judge's sentence makes certain that the only walls Miera will be tagging up anytime soon will be prison walls.
Meanwhile, the City of Denver is banking on public art as a way to cut down on graffiti and related violence. Will it work for crews like EMS? Weigh in on our blog "City announces program to fight graffiti by paying for murals."
By Jared Jacang Maher in Follow That StoryFriday, Apr. 3 2009 @ 2:25PM
Battles between tagging crews can sometime get violent in West Denver.
A member of a West Denver tagging crew will have lots of time to work in his blackbook after being sentenced to life in prison yesterday.
A Jefferson County judge slapped twenty-year-old David Miera Jr. with a life sentence plus 32 years for being the triggerman in a 2006 shooting that killed one man and caused serious injury to another.
Miera belonged to EMS, a loose collection of as many as 200 taggers known for scrawling their insignia on property across Denver's west side. Such crews are known within the graffiti community and among law enforcement as "tagbangers" for their low spray can skills -- no "pieces," just ugly tags -- and propensity for gang-like violence. For the past several years, EMS has been in heavy competition with rival crew WKS for turf and respect. In 2006, this escalated from the walls (the traditional way crews do battle) into stabbings and shootings.
Westword chronicled some of the drama in the June 2007 story, "Tagging up Denver." Here's an excerpt from that article:
At last summer's Taste of Colorado festival, a rumble between more than two dozen WKS and EMS members resulted in one teen getting stabbed. And on December 17, Jonathan "Roman" MacLagan was shot to death at a Littleton house party after breaking up a fight between rival crews. The twenty-year-old Kennedy High School grad "was a peacemaker at heart," says one of MacLagan's friends. "He wasn't down for fighting. He was a good homie like that."
Miera, then nineteen, was arrested five days later by Jefferson County deputies for the shooting death of MacLagan. According to an arrest affidavit, he told police that he and other EMS members became angry after not being admitted to a party. As they left, Miera says he fired a shotgun from the back window of an SUV intending to hit Moke, a member of WKS. Instead, the blast hit MacLagan in the head, killing him. "It wasn't meant for Roman, it was meant for Moke," Miera told investigators. He is currently awaiting a plea hearing on charges of first-degree murder.
In February, a jury found Miera guilty on several charges, including the first-degree murder of MacLagan and the first-degree assault of Carlos Sanchez, who was also shot but survived. The judge's sentence makes certain that the only walls Miera will be tagging up anytime soon will be prison walls.
Meanwhile, the City of Denver is banking on public art as a way to cut down on graffiti and related violence. Will it work for crews like EMS? Weigh in on our blog "City announces program to fight graffiti by paying for murals."
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Five arrested in robbery of pizza deliverer charged with violating street gang act
Published: March 31, 2009 07:40 pm
Rome News-Tribune (GA)
Five arrested in robbery of pizza deliverer charged with violating street gang act
Mark Millican
Four more people have been arrested in the March 26 armed robbery of a pizza delivery man at gunpoint near 306 N. Henderson St.
Dennis Shammad Love, 17, of 715 Trammel St., and three juveniles were arrested Tuesday by officers with the Dalton Police Department. Damarion Johnson, 17, was arrested on Friday. All are charged with armed robbery and violation of the Georgia Street Gang Act. Police spokesman Bruce Frazier said officers believe some of the youth are part of a gang but do not want to publicize a gang name over concerns that other gangs may commit crimes to gain publicity.
Investigating officers found a pellet gun in the area where the robbery occurred and believe it was used in the holdup, Frazier said.
Love and Johnson are students at Northwest Whitfield High School, according to a spokesman at the Whitfield County Jail. They remained in custody Tuesday afternoon. Frazier said the juveniles were taken to the Regional Youth Detention Center where a decision would be made about incarceration or releasing them to their parents.
Punishment by the school system could include suspension or expulsion under the school system’s code of conduct. Spokesman Eric Beavers said Northwest principal Carolyn Towns could take the students before a discipline tribunal hearing.
The delivery driver was robbed in the area of apartments at 306 N. Henderson St. after someone called in an order for an address where the resident was not home, police said. As the driver was about to leave, he was approached by a group of young males who claimed to have made the order. He went to his truck to retrieve a change bag when one of the males pulled out a gun and demanded money.
The driver left after giving up $25 and the pizza.
Rome News-Tribune (GA)
Five arrested in robbery of pizza deliverer charged with violating street gang act
Mark Millican
Four more people have been arrested in the March 26 armed robbery of a pizza delivery man at gunpoint near 306 N. Henderson St.
Dennis Shammad Love, 17, of 715 Trammel St., and three juveniles were arrested Tuesday by officers with the Dalton Police Department. Damarion Johnson, 17, was arrested on Friday. All are charged with armed robbery and violation of the Georgia Street Gang Act. Police spokesman Bruce Frazier said officers believe some of the youth are part of a gang but do not want to publicize a gang name over concerns that other gangs may commit crimes to gain publicity.
Investigating officers found a pellet gun in the area where the robbery occurred and believe it was used in the holdup, Frazier said.
Love and Johnson are students at Northwest Whitfield High School, according to a spokesman at the Whitfield County Jail. They remained in custody Tuesday afternoon. Frazier said the juveniles were taken to the Regional Youth Detention Center where a decision would be made about incarceration or releasing them to their parents.
Punishment by the school system could include suspension or expulsion under the school system’s code of conduct. Spokesman Eric Beavers said Northwest principal Carolyn Towns could take the students before a discipline tribunal hearing.
The delivery driver was robbed in the area of apartments at 306 N. Henderson St. after someone called in an order for an address where the resident was not home, police said. As the driver was about to leave, he was approached by a group of young males who claimed to have made the order. He went to his truck to retrieve a change bag when one of the males pulled out a gun and demanded money.
The driver left after giving up $25 and the pizza.
Mississauga (Canada) homes raided in street gang bust
Mississauga.com
April 2, 2009 09:48 AM -
A series of pre-dawn raids yesterday, including two in Mississauga, have resulted in more than 100 people being arrested in what police described as the biggest street gang takedown in Ontario's history.
About 1,000 police officers executed more than 100 search warrants during a bust of "unprecedented scale," Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair said this morning.
Police from across the province, including OPP officers, burst into apartment buildings and homes as early as 5 a.m. in an effort to dismantle both high and low-level operatives of various criminal organizations.
Two Mississauga homes were raided, with four people being arrested.
"We have achieved the purpose that we set out to do today," Blair said.
Police continued to make arrests and seize property throughout the day.
Project Fusion, as police are calling Wednesday's takedown, began last year and focused on crimes dating back to 2003, Chief Bill Blair told a news conference at police headquarters today.
The investigation focused on two street gangs: MNE (Markham Road/Eglinton Ave. E.) and the 400 Crew (400 McCowan Rd.) located in southeast Toronto, Blair said.
"But there is an overarching criminal enterprise that supplies weapons and drugs to the street gangs, " Blair said. They don't have a name but "they have been extremely well organized and sophisticated in their operation."
One hundred homes and 61 vehicles around the GTA were the targets of search warrants.
Police arrested 125 people. Some face weapons trafficking and criminal organization charges while some facing less serious offences already have been released from custody. Prosecutors will try to detain the accused who face the most serious charges. No names have been released.
"This is the culmination of a complex and obviously successful organized crime investigation," Blair said.
lrosella@mississauga.net
April 2, 2009 09:48 AM -
A series of pre-dawn raids yesterday, including two in Mississauga, have resulted in more than 100 people being arrested in what police described as the biggest street gang takedown in Ontario's history.
About 1,000 police officers executed more than 100 search warrants during a bust of "unprecedented scale," Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair said this morning.
Police from across the province, including OPP officers, burst into apartment buildings and homes as early as 5 a.m. in an effort to dismantle both high and low-level operatives of various criminal organizations.
Two Mississauga homes were raided, with four people being arrested.
"We have achieved the purpose that we set out to do today," Blair said.
Police continued to make arrests and seize property throughout the day.
Project Fusion, as police are calling Wednesday's takedown, began last year and focused on crimes dating back to 2003, Chief Bill Blair told a news conference at police headquarters today.
The investigation focused on two street gangs: MNE (Markham Road/Eglinton Ave. E.) and the 400 Crew (400 McCowan Rd.) located in southeast Toronto, Blair said.
"But there is an overarching criminal enterprise that supplies weapons and drugs to the street gangs, " Blair said. They don't have a name but "they have been extremely well organized and sophisticated in their operation."
One hundred homes and 61 vehicles around the GTA were the targets of search warrants.
Police arrested 125 people. Some face weapons trafficking and criminal organization charges while some facing less serious offences already have been released from custody. Prosecutors will try to detain the accused who face the most serious charges. No names have been released.
"This is the culmination of a complex and obviously successful organized crime investigation," Blair said.
lrosella@mississauga.net
Injunction targets O.C. (CA) street gang
Lps Angeles times
6:19 PM | March 27, 2009
An Orange County judge issued a court order today that bars dozens of alleged members of a street gang from assembling with each other, authorities said.
Superior Court Judge Kazharu Makino signed the preliminary injunction against the Orange Varrio Cypress gang, which claims territory in the city of Orange, according to the district attorney’s office. The court order is the sixth signed in Orange County in the last 2½ years. The last injunction was issued against a rival gang, also in Orange, in July.
Law enforcement authorities served 108 alleged gang members with injunction notices starting last month, and 55 of them were named in Friday’s injunction.
The judge’s order demarcates a 3.8-square-mile area, mostly in downtown Orange west of the 55 Freeway, in which alleged gang members are not allowed to congregate together, drink or use drugs in public, or wear gang attire. They must also obey a curfew and other laws or face increased penalties.
“They’ve been committing violent crime and really been a nuisance to the community,” said Orange Police Sgt. Dan Adams, who added that the gang dates back to at least the 1970s.
More recently, police said, the gang's members have been involved in dozens of attempted homicides, weapons violations, assaults and drug crimes from 2005 to 2008.
As in Los Angeles and San Diego counties, gang injunctions have become more common in Orange County as a way to step up the fight against gangs in Anaheim, Orange, San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente and Santa Ana.
Gang injunctions are somewhat controversial, with civil libertarians saying they cast too wide a net and can amount to racial profiling.
But law enforcement officials say that they pursue court orders in response to fears and concerns by law-abiding residents, and that they include only the most active and well-documented gang members, such as those who have admitted to gang membership, dress in gang colors, bear gang tattoos or have committed crimes on behalf of the gang.
--Tony Barboza
6:19 PM | March 27, 2009
An Orange County judge issued a court order today that bars dozens of alleged members of a street gang from assembling with each other, authorities said.
Superior Court Judge Kazharu Makino signed the preliminary injunction against the Orange Varrio Cypress gang, which claims territory in the city of Orange, according to the district attorney’s office. The court order is the sixth signed in Orange County in the last 2½ years. The last injunction was issued against a rival gang, also in Orange, in July.
Law enforcement authorities served 108 alleged gang members with injunction notices starting last month, and 55 of them were named in Friday’s injunction.
The judge’s order demarcates a 3.8-square-mile area, mostly in downtown Orange west of the 55 Freeway, in which alleged gang members are not allowed to congregate together, drink or use drugs in public, or wear gang attire. They must also obey a curfew and other laws or face increased penalties.
“They’ve been committing violent crime and really been a nuisance to the community,” said Orange Police Sgt. Dan Adams, who added that the gang dates back to at least the 1970s.
More recently, police said, the gang's members have been involved in dozens of attempted homicides, weapons violations, assaults and drug crimes from 2005 to 2008.
As in Los Angeles and San Diego counties, gang injunctions have become more common in Orange County as a way to step up the fight against gangs in Anaheim, Orange, San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente and Santa Ana.
Gang injunctions are somewhat controversial, with civil libertarians saying they cast too wide a net and can amount to racial profiling.
But law enforcement officials say that they pursue court orders in response to fears and concerns by law-abiding residents, and that they include only the most active and well-documented gang members, such as those who have admitted to gang membership, dress in gang colors, bear gang tattoos or have committed crimes on behalf of the gang.
--Tony Barboza
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Alliance marshals for war on gangs
The Republican
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
By PETER GOONAN
pgoonan@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - Law enforcement and youth service agencies - assisted by a $1.4 million state grant - have announced plans for a series of neighborhood deployments to combat gang and youth violence.
Representatives of the participating agencies gathered on Tuesday at City Hall, saying that the coordinated effort is aimed at stepping up gang prevention, intervention, and suppression efforts. The initial deployment will be in the Forest Park and lower Forest Park area, said officials.
The grant, announced last fall, was awarded under the state Sen. Charles E. Shannon Jr. Community Safety Initiative grant program.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
By PETER GOONAN
pgoonan@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - Law enforcement and youth service agencies - assisted by a $1.4 million state grant - have announced plans for a series of neighborhood deployments to combat gang and youth violence.
Representatives of the participating agencies gathered on Tuesday at City Hall, saying that the coordinated effort is aimed at stepping up gang prevention, intervention, and suppression efforts. The initial deployment will be in the Forest Park and lower Forest Park area, said officials.
The grant, announced last fall, was awarded under the state Sen. Charles E. Shannon Jr. Community Safety Initiative grant program.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Violence broke out as rival gangs fought for territory
Violence broke out as gangs fought for turf
By Mark Cowan
Mar 24 2009, Birmingham Mail
THE murders of teenage party-goers Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis six years ago brought into sharp focus the gang problem that had plagued the city for a decade.
The innocent girls were caught in the crossfire as members of notorious street gangs, Burger Bar Boys and the Johnson Crew, fought a deadly battle on the streets.
Investigators believe the gangs’ roots can be traced back to the 1980s when groups of young black men banded together to counter threats to their community from the Far Right. They soon evolved into criminal street gangs battling each other and Jamaican Yardies for control of the booming crack cocaine market.
The Johnson Crew’s territory was Aston and Nechells while the Burger Bar Boys claimed Handsworth, Lozells and Perry Barr.
By the late 90s, the gangs had become chaotic and the city saw a rise in gun crime and stabbings as they brazenly targeted each other in public, with shootings developing from organised hits in conflicts over the drug trade to tit-for-tat issues of “respect, revenge and revenue”.
Their street war came to a head in January 2003 when members of the Burger Bar Boys went hunting rival Johnson Crew members at a party at a hairdressers in Aston. Letisha, aged 17, and 18-year-old Charlene, were murdered in a drive-by shooting. Their murders galvanised the city into action.
Within three years the gangs were splintered as almost all of the 50 ‘Most Wanted’ members of the two gangs were behind bars with members of the Burgers jailed over the girls’ murders and members of the Johnson Crew imprisoned for the murder of doorman Ishfaq Ahmed, killed in 2004.
A raft of new measures were also introduced to mediate between the warring factions to stop the tensions from spilling over onto the streets and give gang members an option to escape their lifestyle.
While it is debatable whether the two street gangs exert the same control they once did, the influence on youngsters attracted to what they see as a glamorous lifestyle is undeniable.
Younger gangs, made up mostly of teenagers attracted by the lure of being part of a gang, emerged with names such as Slash For Money Crew and the Bang Bang Crew. A trivial row between members of those gangs led to the stabbing of Odwayne Barnes in Birmingham city centre in March 2007.
Despite a drop in shootings, the gang problem has not disappeared. Last summer police saw an increase in tensions on the streets that led to an increase in gun crime and two murders.
By Mark Cowan
Mar 24 2009, Birmingham Mail
THE murders of teenage party-goers Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis six years ago brought into sharp focus the gang problem that had plagued the city for a decade.
The innocent girls were caught in the crossfire as members of notorious street gangs, Burger Bar Boys and the Johnson Crew, fought a deadly battle on the streets.
Investigators believe the gangs’ roots can be traced back to the 1980s when groups of young black men banded together to counter threats to their community from the Far Right. They soon evolved into criminal street gangs battling each other and Jamaican Yardies for control of the booming crack cocaine market.
The Johnson Crew’s territory was Aston and Nechells while the Burger Bar Boys claimed Handsworth, Lozells and Perry Barr.
By the late 90s, the gangs had become chaotic and the city saw a rise in gun crime and stabbings as they brazenly targeted each other in public, with shootings developing from organised hits in conflicts over the drug trade to tit-for-tat issues of “respect, revenge and revenue”.
Their street war came to a head in January 2003 when members of the Burger Bar Boys went hunting rival Johnson Crew members at a party at a hairdressers in Aston. Letisha, aged 17, and 18-year-old Charlene, were murdered in a drive-by shooting. Their murders galvanised the city into action.
Within three years the gangs were splintered as almost all of the 50 ‘Most Wanted’ members of the two gangs were behind bars with members of the Burgers jailed over the girls’ murders and members of the Johnson Crew imprisoned for the murder of doorman Ishfaq Ahmed, killed in 2004.
A raft of new measures were also introduced to mediate between the warring factions to stop the tensions from spilling over onto the streets and give gang members an option to escape their lifestyle.
While it is debatable whether the two street gangs exert the same control they once did, the influence on youngsters attracted to what they see as a glamorous lifestyle is undeniable.
Younger gangs, made up mostly of teenagers attracted by the lure of being part of a gang, emerged with names such as Slash For Money Crew and the Bang Bang Crew. A trivial row between members of those gangs led to the stabbing of Odwayne Barnes in Birmingham city centre in March 2007.
Despite a drop in shootings, the gang problem has not disappeared. Last summer police saw an increase in tensions on the streets that led to an increase in gun crime and two murders.
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