Facebook Helps Feds Indict 12 Key Leaders of Crips Gang

WEST BLOOMFIELD, MI – A West Bloomfield resident was among a dozen leaders and key members of the notorious Crips street gang indicted in a multi-agency crackdown on violent gang-related crime in Detroit, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade’s office said Wednesday.

The 12 are members of the Detroit chapter of the “Rollin 60s Crips,” a branch of the national street gang founded in Los Angeles in the mid-1970s. The Detroit of the Rollin 60s was created around 2006, and now has about 150 members, according to a statement from McQuade’s office.

Wednesday’s federal indictment said Facebook assisted federal authorities in busting the gang members, who allegedly posted incriminating evidence, including a $100 contract to any gang member who would kill a rival gang member and drug deals.

The federal indictments allege Rollin 60s Detroit chapter is a violent organization responsible for assaults, robberies, carjackings and the unlawful possession and trafficking of firearms and narcotics in the Detroit metropolitan area over the past nine years.

The government allege the gang uses violence to avenge acts of rival gang members, to intimidate witnesses and to advance members’ positions within the gang.

Joining McQuade in the announcement was Special Agent in Charge Robin Shoemaker, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Special Agent in Charge David P. Gelios, Federal Bureau of Investigation – Detroit Division; and Detroit Police Chief James Craig.

“The Detroit One partners are systematically dismantling the most violent street gangs in Detroit,” McQuade said. “Our effort is relentless. We believe that by removing the gang members who are committing violent crime, we can provide our neighborhoods with the public safety we should all expect and deserve.”

Shoemaker said the 12 gang members indicted “had no regard for the welfare of others,” and said “Their brazen display of violence carried out with assaults, robberies, carjacking, the unlawful possession and trafficking of firearms and narcotics in and around the Detroit metropolitan area is over.”

The various agencies working on the Detroit One initiative “will see to it that these dangerous individuals and those who will take their place are removed from our streets,” he said. “No longer will they threaten the safety of our citizens.”

Craig said the program “is rooted in the belief that our citizens and neighborhoods deserve to be free of such heinous acts,” and Gelios said the “collective strength” of the agencies involved is “formidable deterrent to violent gangs.”

The Detroit One collaboration began in 2013, and homicides have declined 24 percent since 2012, according to the statement.

Among those charged Wednesday:

• Jerome Hamilton 23, of Detroit, charged with Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) conspiracy, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering and using a firearm during a crime of violence;
• Darriyon Mills, 24, of Detroit, charged with RICO conspiracy, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, carjacking and using a firearm during a crime of violence;
• Jonathan Barber, 24, of Detroit, charged with RICO conspiracy, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, and carrying and using an explosive device to commit a felony;
• Deaires Foster, 22, of Irondale, AL, charged with RICO conspiracy;
• Martel Strong, 26, of Detroit, charged with RICO conspiracy;
• Timothy Price, 26, of Detroit, charged with RICO conspiracy;
• Sadeisha Johns, 30, of West Bloomfield, charged with RICO conspiracy;
• Soumo Kennedy, 22, of Detroit, charged with RICO conspiracy, carjacking and using a firearm during a crime of violence;
• Brandon Kennedy, 22, of Detroit, charged with RICO conspiracy;
• Charles Anthony Smith, 31, of Windsor, ON, Canada, charged with RICO conspiracy;
• Jermell Julius Coleman, 35, of Detroit, charged with RICO conspiracy; assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, and using a firearm during a crime of violence;
• William Steele, 34, of Charlotte, NC, charged with RICO conspiracy.

The indictments are the latest in a string of charges from the United States Attorney’s Office and Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office during the last two years involving violent street gangs in the city of Detroit, including:

• Nine members of the Bounty Hunter Bloods street gang for federal racketeering conspiracy and other violent acts in furtherance of racketeering;
• Thirteen members of the Latin Counts street gang for federal racketeering conspiracy and other violent acts in furtherance of racketeering;
• Fourteen members of the Phantom Outlaw Motorcycle Club / Vice Lords street gang for federal racketeering conspiracy and other violent acts in furtherance of racketeering;
• Four members of the Vice Lords in state court for armed robbery and a Vice Lord leader charged under the federal street gang statute for his role in that armed robbery;
• Three members of the Band Crew street gang charged under the Michigan gang felony statute for violent acts in furtherance of their gang activities and eight members of the Band crew for federal racketeering conspiracy and other violent acts in furtherance of racketeering;
• Ten members of the Related Through Money street gang for federal racketeering conspiracy and other violent acts in furtherance of racketeering; and
• Eight members of the Traveling Vice Lords for federal racketeering conspiracy and other violent acts in furtherance of racketeering.