Rhodes is accused of shooting and killing Christopher Jones in May 2016. Later that month, he allegedly killed Ordway and Gordon. Police have said the two were killed at Rhodes' home in Clifton. Their bodies were dumped in the Shawnee neighborhood and set on fire. Rhodes allegedly killed the two brothers because he feared they would tell police about his involvement in Jones' murder. Rhodes is being held on a $1 million full cash bond.

A Manhattan police officer fired at suspected members of a violent gang dubbed Own Every Dollar as they cased a high-end restaurant in the latest of 12 jewelry heists they are believed to be behind. The 'vicious' robbery ring's latest crime saw the group checking out Pergola restaurant in NoMad, Manhattan, at around 1.15am on Monday before a Manhattan police officer opened fire on the suspected crooks. Officers recognized a BMW parked nearby that matched the description of a car linked with an array of jewelry heists and attempted to stop the vehicle, the New York Post reported.   The driver jumped a curb and almost ran down pedestrians before an officer stopped the car by firing through its windshield. One suspect was arrested while two suspects ran away and are being searched for by police. The robbers, who call themselves OED for 'Own Every Dollar' and were described as 'vicious' by a Manhattan officer, are thought to be responsible for least 12 jewelry robberies across New York in the last four months. The ring, who are linked to the notorious Trinitarios gang in The Bronx, netted in more than $4million in jewelry and watches in just one theft and are suspected to be involved in at least one homicide, according to police sources.   The group pulled of the brazen thefts in BMWs and Mercedes-Benz vehicles across Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx, and on Monday, police officers recognised a BMW parked nearby as the gang cased Pergola bistro. The vehicle drew the attention of officers as it matched the description of a car that was tied to an array of jewelry thefts in upscale areas of the city, according to sources. The officers are understood to have moved in after a check showed that the plate did not match the vehicle and cops tried to stop the car on West 28th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues.

a) On April 25, 1980, a Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") confidential informant ("CI") told DEA Special Agent Seary that Claimant Glenn (as well as members of the Maddox drug organization) sold large quantities of heroin from the Maddox Cafe. b) On January 14, 1983, a second DEA CI drove to the Stop Six property with a DEA agent. While the agent remained in the car, the CI entered the restaurant and purchased cocaine and heroin from an individual who told the CI that the heroin Claimant Glenn had brought to the Stop Six property for sale was of good quality. c) On January 20, 1983, the same CI drove to the Stop Six property with a DEA agent where the CI was observed by the DEA agent to enter the restaurant and talk with Claimant Glenn and then walk out of view. The CI then returned to the car with heroin and cocaine that he said he had purchased from an individual at the direction of Glenn after giving Glenn the money. d) On August 29, 1983, a third DEA CI told two DEA agents that Butch's night club, which is part of the Stop Six property, was owned and operated by Glenn and was known as a hang out for heroin dealers. Various CIs have referred to Claimant Glenn as "Butch." e) On October 25, 1983, a fourth CI was driven to the Stop Six property by a DEA agent and a DEA Task Force officer, where the CI purchased heroin and cocaine from an individual under the direction of Claimant Glenn. f) On September 24, 1986, a Fort Worth Police Department officer, acting on information that heroin and cocaine were being sold at the Stop Six property, went there and the bartender asked her what she wanted. The officer replied, "1/2 gram of cocaine." The bartender then directed her to the bathroom where two other individuals sold her the cocaine. The Fort Worth Police Department Laboratory determined that the substance purchased was cocaine. g) On September 25, 1986, the same Fort Worth officer went back to the Stop Six property and purchased another half gram of cocaine. h) On April 21, 1987, a member of the Maddox drug organization told a DEA agent that Claimant Glenn ran the Stop Six Center and was one of Billy Ray Maddox's main lieutenants. i) On May 5, 1987, an individual who was assaulted in the Stop Six parking lot, told police that she was assaulted by a Stop Six employee who spent much of his time near his pickup truck on the parking lot selling heroin and cocaine. j) On November 4, 1987, an individual told a DEA agent that Billy Ray Maddox distributed heroin and cocaine through the restaurant on the Stop Six property. This same individual said that he had purchased heroin from Claimant Glenn on two occasions. He would go to the club on the Stop Six property, make a deal for heroin with Glenn, and Glenn would obtain the heroin from somewhere in the kitchen. k) On November 6, 1987, Fort Worth officers, acting on complaints of narcotics trafficking, went to the restaurant on the Stop Six property. While inside the restaurant, the officers observed three individuals sitting at different tables without food as if they were lookouts. One of these individuals was in possession of a loaded pistol. While on the property officers observed an exchange, arrested the suspect and recovered a  clear plastic bag that contained cocaine base. l) On March 18, 1988, another Fort Worth officer purchased cocaine in the hallway where the bathrooms were located. The individual who conducted the sale was later arrested and twelve additional dosage units of cocaine base were retrieved from the trash can inside the bathroom. m) On May 9, 1988, a member of the Maddox drug organization, told a former DEA Task Force officer that Claimant Glenn owned Maddox thousands of dollars. n) On July 12, 1988, DEA agents recorded a conversation between Billy Ray Maddox and another individual in which Maddox was heard to complain about the volume of business Butch was able to produce. o) On July 24, 1988, Fort Worth officers went to the restaurant on the Stop Six property in reference to numerous complaints that narcotics were sold at that location. The officers entered the restaurant and observed a cook give a hand signal to occupants that the police were there. The officers observed an individual run and throw something away. The officers arrested the individual and recovered one large plastic bag containing sixteen smaller bags of cocaine base. p) On July 26, 1988, Fort Worth police officers executed a search warrant at the Stop Six property and arrested several suspects in the parking lot. They recovered a total of sixty dosage units of cocaine base. q) On November 4, 1988, a DEA agent interviewed a member of the Maddox drug organization. This person formerly managed the narcotics trafficking activity at another Maddox nightclub and advised the agent that Butch's (the Stop Six Restaurant) was selling narcotics. He further advised that Butch operated the club and supervised the narcotics sales. r) Between August 1987 and July 1988, surveillance established Billy Ray Maddox's presence at the restaurant on the Stop Six property on numerous occasions.

Something went badly wrong in the life of 17-year-old Iquan Warlick of Brooklyn, a baby-faced high schooler who showed promise playing football and basketball — and who according to cops threw it away by picking up a gun and leading a gangsta life. Warlick, who lived with his mother at the Ingersoll Houses in Fort Greene, is accused of involvement in four homicides in pandemic-ravaged 2020.  “Insane cowboy” is how a law enforcement source described Warlick. How he became an accused adolescent killer four times over isn’t clear to investigators. But Warlick has offered at least one clue.

Several years ago, Richard Grundy III received what a federal prosecutor hailed as the “plea deal of a century.” On Thursday, Grundy received the sentence of a lifetime. Quite literally. Grundy, 30 was sentenced Thursday at the U.S. federal courthouse to a mandatory life sentence after a jury convicted him of charges related to a drug organization that authorities said sold marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin in Indianapolis. During his sentencing hearing, federal prosecutor Bradley Blackington said Grundy would never have found himself in this situation if he had just learned from his mistakes and taken advantage of that previous plea deal. Grundy had been on law enforcement’s radar since 2014. In 2015, they finally nabbed the then-accused leader of the “Grundy Crew” on five counts of murder and a slew of other felonies in Marion County.

A man behind a kidnapping case that triggered an Amber Alert in 2015 has been found guilty. 39-year-old John Thomas of Detroit was found guilty in a federal courtroom on Monday. On March 2, 2015, Thomas and five accomplices came from Detroit to Indianapolis and kidnapped two children. The children were the younger siblings of Whitney Blackwell, Thomas’s ex-girlfriend. Investigators said Blackwell had stolen drugs and drugs money from Thomas on Feb. 28. Testimony in court indicated that Thomas was a Detroit-based drug dealer. Whitney Blackwell was placed on probation for drug possession. Thomas and the co-conspirators took the children, ages 13 and 16, from the home in the 1200 block of LaSalle Street in the early morning hours.

Testimony at the sentencing hearings established that DAVIS was the head of the “Sin City Mafia,” a major criminal enterprise with headquarters in Columbus, GA; Atlanta, GA; and Los Angeles, CA. DAVIS obtained cocaine from California suppliers connected to major Mexican cartels and transported that cocaine to Atlanta by way of tractor trailers, private jets and through parcel post. Once the cocaine arrived in Atlanta, it was packaged for shipment various locales along the East Coast. DAVIS’ organization had ties to the Black Mafia Family (BMF), a criminal enterprise operating in Detroit, Atlanta, Orlando, Saint Louis and elsewhere. The evidence established GRAHAM as one of DAVIS’ primary distributors, and that GRAHAM, KING and others associated with their organization personally supplied over 500 kilograms of cocaine sold in South Carolina. The evidence also showed that DAVIS, GRAHAM, KING and GLOSTER (DAVIS’ wife) lived lavish lifestyles and laundered the proceeds of their drug business in a number of ways. DAVIS, in particular, owned several million dollar residences titled in the names of his family members and associates. All of the defendants entered guilty pleas. GRAHAM agreed to cooperate with the Government but lied about a number of his associates and failed a polygraph examination. Judge Herlong heard evidence for six hours during the sentencing hearing about the various breaches of GRAHAM’s plea agreement. During a break in the proceeding, GRAHAM pointed at the cooperating witness, made a shooting gesture with his fingers and then pointed at his own heart. After hearing evidence, Judge Herlong ruled that GRAHAM had made numerous false statements to Government agents after his guilty plea and had breached his plea agreement in a number of material particulars. Judge Herlong also ruled that GRAHAM had threatened a witness during the course of the proceedings, and sentenced GRAHAM to a term of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.   Judge Herlong sentenced GRAHAM to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He sentenced the other defendants as follows: DAVIS, to a term of 39 years, 10 months in prison; KING, 24 years, 8 months in prison; RIVERA, 3 years, 4 months in prison; and GLOSTER, 2 years in prison. Judge Herlong also ordered the forfeiture of millions of dollars in drug related assets. All of these sentences will be served without the possibility of parole, and agents have seized over $5 million dollars worth of drug related assets during the course of the South Carolina investigation.   DEA Atlanta Field Division Special Agent in Charge Rodney G. Benson said, “Drug traffickers may think they can find safe havens to conduct their filthy business, but they are kidding themselves. With the relentless cooperative efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement partners we work as one force committed to ensuring there is never a comfortable place for those who mock our laws and encourage our children to destroy their bodies. The court provided sentences today that reinforce that message.” U.S. Attorney Reginald I. Lloyd noted that this investigation is one of the largest drug investigations ever handled by his office. He stated that the sentences handed down with respect to the leaders of this organization (GRAHAM, DAVIS and KING) send a message that drug dealing will not be tolerated.

Tommie L. Walker, a/k/a Columbia BT, and Juan Carlos Garcia-Martinez, a/k/a Carlos Garcia were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Linda T. Walker on September 21, 2018 on federal charges of drug trafficking and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.  Walker, Garcia-Martinez, and Samuel Anchondo-Galaviz were indicted by a federal grand jury on September 12, 2018. “These defendants were allegedly part of a multi-state drug distribution scheme that transported and distributed cocaine worth approximately $4 million,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “Thanks to the work of law enforcement in Georgia, South Carolina and Colorado, this drug enterprise is now history.” “This investigation is an excellent example of the working relationships that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Atlanta-Carolinas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) have with their law enforcement partners,” said Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta DEA Field Division. “The defendants were transporting large quantities of drugs throughout our neighborhoods, and the dismantlement of this criminal organization will have a positive local impact and sends a clear message that we will not tolerate illegal drug trafficking in our communities.” According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges, and other information presented in court: Agents of the Atlanta-Carolina High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program began their investigation in August 2017 in conjunction with Drug Enforcement Administration agents in South Carolina and Colorado. Walker, who raps under the name “Columbia BT,” allegedly participated in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy that extended to Colorado, South Carolina, and Mexico. Walker allegedly operated a warehouse in the Atlanta area where he received shipments of cocaine hidden in tractor-trailers. The shipments were sent by a co-conspirator in Colorado. Walker allegedly would then distribute the drugs to individuals from South Georgia and South Carolina. Garcia-Martinez is an alleged co-conspirator who facilitated some of Walker’s drug transactions. Law enforcement officers seized more than 135 kilograms of cocaine from the organization, a quantity worth more than $4 million at current wholesale prices in Atlanta. Law enforcement also seized more than $220,000 in drug proceeds. October 9, 2017, a tractor-trailer containing approximately 40 kilograms of cocaine, which was driven by Anchondo-Galaviz, was stopped on the way to Walker’s warehouse. Other seizures charged in the indictment took place on December 3, 2017 and February 21, 2018.  Walker allegedly used his illegal drug proceeds to finance a lavish lifestyle that he displayed in his rap videos. Some of the property seized from the alleged drug proceeds included a 2016 Rolls-Royce Dawn and a 2013 Bentley Mulsanne. Tommie L. Walker, a/k/a Columbia BT, 42, of Kennesaw, Georgia is charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and three counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Juan Carlos Garcia-Martinez, a/k/a Carlos Garcia, 37, of Forest Park, Georgia, and Samuel Anchondo-Galaviz, 40, of New Mexico are each charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

Darryl Reed, once called the “crack king” of Oakland, will be released from prison this year after President Obama this week granted him and 110 others clemency. The former drug kingpin known on the streets as “Lil D” will be released from a federal prison in Oregon on Dec. 28, 26 years into a 35-year prison sentence for manufacturing and possessing crack and cocaine to sell. “I said, Woohoo! Like that,” his mother, Delores Stephens, told KGO-TV. “I told myself too, I believe the Lord sent him there for a reason.” At age 20, Reed was at the top of Oakland’s narcotics trade in the late 1980s, transporting drugs through his connections in Los Angeles to street dealers throughout Oakland, retired narcotics Officer Ken Scott said. “He had the whole city,” said Scott, who retired from the Oakland police department in 1997. “He had people in East Oakland, West Oakland and North Oakland.” Reed is a nephew through marriage of Felix Mitchell, leader of “The Mob” gang, one of three notorious organizations that ruled Oakland’s streets in the early 1980s. Mitchell was killed in federal prison in 1986. Though not as flashy as his predecessors, Reed lived a lavish life funded by his cocaine sales. In December 1988, he paid $30,000 for 3,000 guests to attend his birthday party at the Golden Gate Fields Turf Club, according to newspaper reports at the time. Days later, Reed was busted when authorities raided his Adams Point apartment in Oakland and seized 30 pounds of crack cocaine and 16 pounds of powder cocaine with an estimated street value of $3 million, a record seizure at the time, according to court records. Scott, who wrote the warrant for Reed’s arrest, was holed up in an apartment upstairs, listening to Reed cook the cocaine. “He was caught red-handed,” Russ Giuntini, the prosecutor in Reed’s case, said. “He literally had powder all over his hands.” Now 48, Reed has spent more days in prison than as a free man. Nicole Lee, of Urban Peace Movement, said Reed has a new perspective on life and his crime days, and has called from prison to speak to youth attending the group’s events. “He feels it’s his generation’s responsibility to share their life stories and to steer the young people in Oakland away from the mistake he made,” said Lee, whose organization wrote a letter to Obama in support of Reed. In an interview with KGO-TV, Reed’s son Lamar Reed said his father, though incarcerated, was always there for him. “I want to thank President Obama, it’s been a long journey,” Lamar Reed said. “I knew I had a father who loved me and that I had someone who wanted me to be better than he was. He pushed me to be that.” Obama has granted 673 commutations during his presidency, many of which were for people imprisoned for drug-related crimes stemming from the nation’s “War on Drugs.” The previous 11 administrations granted a combined 690. The president’s decision in Reed’s case stunned Giuntini. “It calls into question what the president is told during the commutation process,” Giuntini said. “This is like commuting Al Capone’s sentence, or John Gotti’s sentence. He should serve every day because of all the harm he did to the community.”

“These convictions and sentences demonstrate that by working together, federal, state and local law enforcement are systematically dismantling the street gangs that cause violent crime in our neighborhoods,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Saima Mohsin. “Detroit residents deserve to live in a community safe from violent crime.” The gang operated around Albion Street and Seven Mile, an area its members referred to as “ABlock,” which is within a larger territory claimed by the Bloods street gang (known as the “Red Zone.” Smokecamp has had several names, including Original Paid Bosses, Paid Bosses Inc. And Runyon Boys. In November 2017, an indictment was returned alleging that Smokecamp members were known to engage in robberies and extortion and that the gang made its money predominantly through the sale of narcotics, including cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, marijuana, ecstacy and prescription pills. The gang regularly sold these controlled substances on the “ABlock,” outside of vacant houses, known as “trap houses,” and businesses, the indictment said. Additionally, from 2014-2015, Smokecamp members regularly sold controlled substances from an apartment complex on East Seven Mile, which they branded the “Plaga,” sharing workers and firearms to distribute and protect their narcotics. However, this activity was not confined to Detroit with some of their members traveling to Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio to sell narcotics. The gang also regularly engaged in acts of violence, including shootings and murder to intimidate rivals and maintain control of their territory, according to the indictment. The following individuals have been convicted for their role in the gang and have received sentences ranging from 66 months to 384 months in federal prison: Korey “No Loan Corleon,” “Stax” Sanders, 29, of Detroit, pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy, willful engagement in firearms business without a license, and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance; sentenced to six years in federal prison Jerray “Chino,” “Dre” Key, 31, of Canton, pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy and felon in possession of a firearm; sentenced to six years in federal prison Deshawn “Pook,” “Slips” Langston, 30, of Detroit, pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering; sentenced to 20 years in federal prison Richard “Dub,” “Rich,” “Blow” Langston, 31, of Detroit, pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy; sentenced to 14 years and two months in federal prison Hakeem “LB Dub” Bunnell, 27, of Detroit, pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy, and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering; sentenced to 29 years in federal prison Keenan “Dolla,” “Keno” Nielbock, 33, of Taylor, pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy; sentenced to seven years in federal prison Caraun “Luch,” “Ron,” “Slick” Key, 29, of Detroit, convicted of RICO conspiracy; sentenced to six years in federal prison Darryl “DB,” “Big Baby” Key, 30, of Detroit, convicted of RICO conspiracy; sentenced to five years and six months in federal prison Tyree “Snoop” Williams, 27, of Detroit, pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy and assault with a dangerous weapon; sentenced to 17 years and six months in federal prison Romale “Santana” Gibson Jr., 27, of Detroit, convicted of RICO conspiracy, sentenced to six years in federal prison Cary “Cease” Dailey, 31, of Detroit, convicted of RICO conspiracy, sentenced to six years in federal prison Antonio “Tone” Langston, 32, of Detroit, convicted of RICO conspiracy, sentenced to eight years in federal prison Carlos “Los,” “Loso” Davis, 28, of Detroit, convicted of RICO conspiracy and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering; sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

Darnell Quincy Lindsay, was an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. Icewood was raised on the Westside of Detroit in the vicinity of 7 Mile Road and Evergreen. Later in life, he moved to Southfield and attended Southfield High School. He was a member of the rap group Street Lord'z and is considered as an influential rapper of the Detroit underground rap genre. On April 19, 2005, he was fatally shot due to gang-related violence in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Blade Icewood debuted as a rapper in Detroit with Street Lord'z on their album Platinum Rolees Don't Tic Toc. The group members were Yacht, Jesse James, O Dolla, Brick, Baby Lj, Juan, TJ Da Thug, G Rock, Fat Mike, Lil Kuz, Rook, Cashout Calhoun, HG, K Doe (aka K Deezy), Dj Mark G, Pook, J'Oneal, and Starstrukk. He performed with Street Lord'z of the ring and Chedda Boyz throughout his career   The conflict over the name "Chedda Boyz" started after the formation of the rap group Eastside Chedda Boyz. After the second album released by the Street Lord'z, Platinum Masterpiece, boasted the subtitle, "Original Chedda Boyz," became the cause of conflict between the Street Lord'z and Chedda Boyz. Icewood released a bonus DVD with his "Stackmaster" solo album that featured an interview discussing the origins of the name Chedda Boyz. A retaliating diss song was later released by the Eastside Chedda Boyz titled "Boss Up and Take They Money" (an allusion to the Icewood song, "Boy Would You")

Rudy Rangel Jr. liked to keep his hair short. So Rangel, a leader of the Latin Kings, one of Chicago’s biggest street gangs, had been going several times a month to Nationwide Cutz, a barbershop operating out of a trailer near Roosevelt and Sacramento on the West Side. On June 4, 2003, late in the evening, the gang leader known as “Kato” was in the barber chair, his back to the open door, Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and New Jersey Nets on the TV. Outside, a 21-year-old, recently paroled ex-con named Donell “Squeaky” Simmons walked through the alley to the shop, a red, white and blue Nets cap on his head and a pistol at his waist. Two men were sitting on the stairs to the barbershop, waiting to get in, when Simmons walked up. “Let me get by,” Simmons told them. In a few moments, Rangel, 30, lay dying. Now, 15 years later, 11 members of the Four Corner Hustlers, including Labar “Bro Man” Spann, leader of the gang, await prosecution next year in one of the biggest gang trials ever in Chicago. Rangel’s killing and five other murders are at the heart of the sweeping racketeering conspiracy case set to be heard in federal court in September 2019. Though Simmons and two others went to prison in Rangel’s death, some details of the high-profile killing — rapper DMX later recorded a tribute to Rangel called “A’Yo Kato” — never came out. Authorities said the shooting resulted from an attempted jewel robbery. But interviews and thousands of pages of records from the U.S. attorney’s office, the Chicago Police Department, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office and the Cook County medical examiner’s office reviewed by the Chicago Sun-Times suggest another possible motive: that the murder was contracted after Rangel stole 150 kilos of cocaine. Based on those records.

Staten Island's bash brothers are down for the count. On Monday, a federal jury found Anthony and Harvey Christian, 41 and 42, who were accused of using murder and violence to run the crack cocaine trade in the Park Hill Apartments in Clifton for two decades, guilty on all the counts against them in a racketeering trial. A third defendant, Jason Quinn, 40, described as their underling in the drug conspiracy, was also found guilty. The three could face life in prison when sentenced. Their conspiracy included the 1999 murder of 17-year-old Jerome Estrella, and plots to kill two other men, prosecutors said. The Christian brothers, along with a third brother, James, were dubbed "a scourge on the Island community" by a law enforcement source in 2004, after they were arrested on charges they slashed and beat another man in a pot deal gone wrong. Anthony (Nitty) and Harvey (Black) Christian were charged in prior assaults, but the brothers beat the charges in separate slayings. In July 1999, James Christian was cleared in Estrella's slaying after after a witness failed to pick him out of a lineup; and in January 1997, a jury acquitted Anthony and Harvey Christian and their co-defendant, Fred Marks, in the May 26, 1995, slaying of John Kennedy III in Clifton. The panel also cleared them of the attempted murder of Carlos Serrano. On Monday, James Christian sat in a courtroom in Brooklyn federal court and watched as a federal jury read aloud guilty counts for his brothers, Anthony and Harvey. Anthony Christian occasionally turned and smiled to family members in court, mouthing the words, "I love you," and at various points looked down into the pages of a tattered Bible. Closing arguments in the trial ended Thursday, and the jury deliberated late into the night both Thursday and Friday. Federal prosecutors said Anthony and Harvey Christian established themselves in the early 1990s as the men who controlled crack-dealing action around the Park Hill Apartments in Clifton, and fought to keep control of their turf. They used the building at 55 Bowen St. as their home base throughout their reign, and in the mid-1990s, waged war on Park Hill Avenue to win control of more buildings, prosecutors said. Kennedy was shot dead on May 26, 1995, in one of the gun battles in that war, according to prosecutors. In 1999, Anthony Christian and Paul (Uncles) Ford sent their enforcer, Brian Humphreys, to kill rival drug dealer Corey (Shank Bank) Brooker, prosecutors said. Brooker escaped death, but Humphreys killed Estrella, with Anthony Christian's blessing, so he wouldn't warn Brooker about the murder plot. Humphreys and Ford both testified for the prosecution. The brothers also conspired with Anthony Britt -- who also testified for the government -- in a failed 2010 bid to kill William (Buddha) Jones, and chased off and assaulted police officers who tried to make arrests on their turf, prosecutors contended. A search of their apartment in February 2010 turned up bulletproof vests, crack cocaine and marijuana. Quinn, who was tied to the overall conspiracy, wasn't specifically linked to the murder plots. He was convicted on racketeering charges, and on drug and gun possession charges. Anthony Christian faces a mandatory life sentence, while Harvey Christian faces the prospect of 40 years to life in federal prison. Quinn, meanwhile, could be sentenced to 65 years to life. "For all of their adult lives, the Christian brothers and their associates terrorized the residents of Park Hill, forcing them to live in fear of violence," said United States Attorney Loretta Lynch in a written statement. "Today, their ability to earn money through crime comes to an end, and so does their rule of the streets. This verdict sends the message that that violence and drug-dealing have no place in our communities." The Christian brothers' defense lawyers had argued that the government's cooperating witnesses, eight in total, lied so they could get assistance from prosecutors that could shave years off their own prison sentences. "I'm shocked that a jury could believe the testimony of Brian Humphreys and Anthony Britt, both of whom admittedly lied many times," said Jeffrey Chabrowe, who represents Harvey Christian. "I don't understand how the jury could find Mr. Christian guilty based on the testimony of liars like Paul Ford, Anthony Britt and Brian Humphreys." Chabrowe said he expects to appeal the verdict. Anthony and Harvey Christian's mother, Janice Pierce, and brother, James Christian, made similar statements outside the courtroom. "It's totally wrong. I don't understand it. I don't get it. After listening to the evidence, and listening to the eight cooperators that were clearly telling lies, I don't get it. I just don't get it," Ms. Pierce said. "I don't get it, but I know that God knows that they didn't do that.'" James Christian, meanwhile, said his brothers were a force for good in the community, often breaking up fights before they boiled over. "I believe it was injustice," James Christian said. "How do they believe these guys? They lied on the stand a thousand times.... They never killed anyone, conspired to kill anyone."

Jivens seems to be enjoying his life sentence at the Supermax Federal Penitentiary in Florence, Colorado. In a personal ad on a German "Friends Behind Bars" website, he brags about going to prison at a young age. He even calls himself a legend in the Southeast. Jivens goes on to say that he's writing a novel, and says it will be a bestseller just because of his name. "I've been around long enough not much shocks me, but this shocked me," said Barton, who has been reporting on Jivens and his gang from the beginning in 1990. "Ricky Jivens was a one-man crime wave," he said. "He was responsible for the deaths of 15 to 20 people. He didn't pull the trigger but he influenced those who did."   He says this personal ad is proof that Jivens hasn't changed and isn't sorry for what he did. "His ego is still intact, but he deserves to be in prison for the rest of his life," Barton told us. "Like I said in my column, he should rot there." Maj. Everette Ragan agrees. Ragan was one of the Savannah police officers who brought Jivens down. "There were a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of history, a lot of people were impacted by his actions," said Ragan. He wasn't surprised to see Jivens looking for attention. On the website, Jivens promises anyone who corresponds with him won't be disappointed.   "Ricky Jivens disgusts me, whether he's on a website or not," said Ragan. Ragan and Barton both hope women won't waste their time on someone like Jivens. "I'm all for friendship, but Ricky Jivens' closest friend should be the devil he meets in the afterlife," said Barton. The Supermax penitentiary where Jivens is serving his life sentence is also home to Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols and Unibomber Ted Kaczynski, and 9/11 terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui is headed there.

Two men have been charged with killing potential witnesses in a drug trafficking operation. A federal grand jury indicted 25-year-old Antwan Hutchinson and 24-year-old Michael Favors in the deaths of three people who potentially had information on Hutchinson’s drug trafficking activity. Officers and ATF agents had executed a search warrant on February 10 at 68 Whitehorne Avenue. Authorities recovered several guns and drugs including cocaine, marijuana and oxycodone. According to court records, Hutchinson, Favors and others severely beat Cody Campbell on February 12 at the same residence to prevent him from cooperating with the investigation. Campbell died shortly after. Hutchinson and Favors are accused of killing Sidney Campbell and Marie Stamp at the same residence on February 23. A neighbor, who was able to identify Hutchinson and Favors, told investigators Cody assisted Hutchinson in trafficking drugs and the drugs found inside the home were Hutchinson’s. In the indictment, both men are charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, two counts of conspiracy to murder a witness, two counts of murder of a witness, two counts of murder through use of a firearm in relation to drug trafficking crime, conspiracy to tamper with a witness and use of a firearm during a crime of violence. Hutchinson is also charged with an additional count each of conspiracy to tamper with a witness, use of a firearm during a crime of violence and use of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The indictment includes death-eligible specifications under the Federal Death Penalty Act. Hutchinson and Favors were arrested on March 27 and remain in custody.

“Heroin dealers like Karon Peoples sell death and despair.  Heroin is one of the leading causes of death in Maryland—and many victims are teenagers,” said Maryland U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur.  “We will continue to work with our local, state, and federal partners to attack this problem from all sides to reduce overdose deaths.  Federal defendants, like Karon Peoples, face stiff federal sentences, and there is no parole in the federal system.” According to Peoples’ plea agreement, during the fall of 2017, law enforcement began conducting an investigation of Peoples after learning that he was supplying significant quantities of heroin to customers throughout Maryland who traveled to Baltimore City to obtain the heroin.  As part of the investigation, law enforcement conducted controlled purchases and undercover purchases of heroin from Peoples. On December 7, 2017, search warrants were executed at Peoples’ residence, at a stash location on West Lexington Street in Baltimore, and on his vehicle.  Law enforcement recovered 900 grams of heroin; $405,156 in cash stored in a blue checkered Louis Vuitton bag; a Rolex watch; a money counter; and digital scales and other drug paraphernalia from the stash location.  Law enforcement also recovered 68 grams of heroin from the vehicle. On December 7, 2017, and on January 9, 2018, when Peoples was arrested as the result of a federal arrest warrant, law enforcement seized a total of 49 cellular phones from Peoples and the search locations.  A court-authorized search of the phones revealed hundreds of text messages between Peoples, his co-conspirator, and his customers arranging for the acquisition, purchase, and sale of heroin.  The text messages also established that Peoples was part of the conspiracy from no later than May 2015 until his arrest in January 2018. The Harford County Narcotics Task Force and DEA coordinated with other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies through the assistance of the HIDTA Investigative Support Center to collect information about customers of Peoples who were heroin overdose victims.  After running searches for the 49 cellular telephones possessed by Peoples, law enforcement found links between cases involving a total of 27 overdose victims—nine who died as a result of the overdose and 18 who survived.  The victims, who resided in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, had contacted Peoples’ drug phones prior to their overdoses in order to arrange for the purchase of heroin.

I-Dean Fulton, also known as Jeff, Lil' Jeff, Red Fox or Fox, is a drug dealer accused of fatally shooting Michael Toll, a customer, when Toll made a move that Fulton interpreted as reaching for a gun. Before he died, Toll told responding officers that "Jeff" reached into the car and shot him several times. Officers recovered two fired cartridge casings (a Winchester casing and a Cor-bon casing) and also examined Toll's cell phone. They found Toll had repeatedly called a number identified as "Jeff" in the contacts list. Two days later, officers responding to a "man with a gun" call found four men in or near a sedan, including Fulton and Eric Adams. When the officers saw a gun, they arrested all four men, seized a smartphone from Fulton, and took several other phones from the sedan. A detective later powered on each phone and identified the respective assigned phone numbers. He learned that one of the phones had the same number Toll had called (the number identified as "Jeff" in Toll's contacts list). The detective left the phone on and later answered an incoming call. The caller met with the detective and admitted she regularly bought heroin from "Lil' Jeff" and contacted him at the same number. She identified a photo of Fulton as Lil' Jeff. The series of events that began with turning on the phones led to other witness interviews. Adams admitted he was with Fulton when Fulton shot Toll. A search warrant for Fulton's residence turned up a box of Cor-bon bullets. Fulton was charged with murder. Fulton argued that discovery of all the evidence against him began with the detective turning on the phone without a search warrant. The trial court ruled that turning on the phone was a "minimally invasive search." The court also ruled that Fulton lacked a reasonable expectation of privacy for incoming phone calls, including the call answered by the detective. The court further stated that any error in the search was "harmless" and did not warrant evidence suppression. Fulton was convicted of murder. The state supreme court overturned Fulton's conviction. The court applied the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Riley v. California and United States v. Wurie (134 S.Ct. 2473 (2014)), which held that officers must obtain a search warrant to search cell phones of people they arrest. The Pennsylvania high court identified three separate warrantless searches of Fulton's phone: powering it on, finding the assigned number, and answering incoming calls and monitoring messages. The court agreed with Fulton that the critical evidence all flowed from searches of his phone. The court held that the very act of turning on the phone and examining the screen was a "search." Applying a strict interpretation of the Supreme Court Riley/Wurie decision, the court held the search required a warrant. Thus, all the evidence tied to the phone in any way should have been suppressed.

Michael Anthony Salters, described by law enforcement officials as a drug dealer and mediator among competing District drug organizations, was shot and killed late Tuesday near First and Bryant streets NW when an unidentified gunman opened fire on Salters's car, D.C. police reported. Salters's body, still inside his bullet-riddled car, was left outside the entrance to Washington Hospital Center shortly after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, said 5th District Capt. James Coffey. Salters was pronounced dead about 1 a.m. yesterday, said Officer Daniel Straub, a D.C. police spokesman. The police department released few details of the incident yesterday. Sources said Salters had been shot at least six times. Law enforcement sources said Salters was one of the city's largest drug dealers but that his real power was in his ability to referee turf disputes among rival drug dealers.   A law enforcement source said Salters had been implicated in drug deals of more than 200 pounds, but that he had proved too "well insulated" from direct involvement to be charged. Agents at times put Salters under intense surveillance, and interviewed drug dealers who said they had worked with and for him, law enforcement sources said. His name also came up in wiretapped conversations, they said. Federal drug officials say they have been told by several drug dealers that some dealers ceded to Salters the power to assign drug territories for PCP, heroin, cocaine and other drugs. In a pretrial hearing in the cocaine distribution case of drug gang leader Rayful Edmond III, Salters was identified as the person who in August 1988 imposed a cease-fire in the bloody warfare between Edmond's organization and a breakaway faction operating in the Trinidad section of Northeast Washington.   Drug Enforcement Administration agent John Cornille testified that Salters met with the two rival groups and told them to stop killing one another because it was bringing increased police pressure and cutting into drug profits in the city. A law enforcement source said that after the meeting the killings stopped. Salters was not charged in the Edmond case, but federal sources said he pooled money with Edmond and partner Tony Lewis to buy cocaine from the Los Angeles drug broker who was Edmond's pipeline to Colombian dealers. Salters was also allied with a drug gang headed by Eddie Mathis, now serving a 15-year sentence on gun charges. The gang was involved last year in a bloody battle with a rival gang for control of drug sales in far Southeast Washington. On Tuesday night a relative of Salters's was driving a van behind Salters's car east on Bryant when he was cut off by another car near First, police said. An occupant of the vehicle that cut off the van then opened fire on Salters, the sources said. An uninjured passenger in Salters's car then drove to the hospital, sources said.   Police listed a Fort Washington address for Salters, who federal authorities believed had several residences in the area. When arrested last year in Montgomery County on a variety of charges, Salters listed his address as in the 5100 block of Seventh Street NW. In October, Salters was convicted in that case of carrying a handgun and resisting arrest, and sentenced to one year of probation. The charges stemmed from an April 1990 incident in which county police stopped a car in which Salters was a passenger. Police said Salters tried to flee after a police officer frisking him found a bulge in his pocket. Law enforcement sources said Salters's main drug operations were along Kennedy Street NW, stretching at times from North Capitol Street to Georgia Avenue. A law enforcement source said last night that Salters's killing may have been related to a fatal shooting hours earlier on Seventh Street between O and P streets NW. The victim's identity has not been released by police.

Tyler and Jacob Huffhines are now charged, accused of operating an "empire of illegal drugs." The two were busted in connection with a ring of illegal THC vaping cartridges worth millions of dollars.    The two brothers appeared in Kenosha County court on Monday one after the other. Prosecutors say the two are accused of taking a major trip side-by-side. "Jacob Huffhines did go to California with his brother Tyler Huffhines with $300,000 in order to purchase the THC distillate that was found at the condominium," said the prosecutor in court. The complaint says Tyler Huffhines' Snapchat showed "he posted videos of him sitting in first class on the airplane" on his way to California. A confidential informant was able to provide information that the mason jars indeed made their way back to Wisconsin and they were being used to manufacture "between 4,000 and 5,000 cartridges per day," the complaint says.

A baby girl and her 2-year-old brother were alone for three days with the corpses of their murdered parents inside a Virginia house, according to new evidence released in a 2019 case. Police bodycam video played in court on Wednesday showed deputies arriving at the gruesome scene of the May 26, 2019, slayings in Spotsylvania County, WRC-TV reported. Inside, they found the bodies of Rachel Ozuna, her 14-year-old son Kyrrus Ozuna and her boyfriend, Michael Coleman, bound with their throats slashed. Ozuna, 34, was discovered face-down on the blood-spattered nursery floor, with her and Coleman’s toddler son standing beside her in a diaper, the report said.