9 More Alleged Gang Members Charged with Murder, Racketeering

DETROIT, MI — Nine more alleged members of the notorious 6 Mile Chedda Grove street gang have been charged in a December 2015 shooting on Detroit’s east side that killed two and injured a child and teenager, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said Tuesday. The new charges bring to 117 the number of alleged gang members who have been arrested over four years during a multi-agency crackdown on violent street gangs in Detroit.

The new defendants are charged with racketeering conspiracy, additional murders in aid of racketeering and related offenses, according to the indictments unsealed in federal court Tuesday.

In June, two gang members — Edwin Lamont “Edboy” Mills, 26, and Carlo Dajuan “Los” Wilson, 22, both of Detroit — were indicted in connection with the mid-afternoon shooting on Dec. 1, 2015, in a parking lot of a neighborhood liquor store in the area of Troester and Hayes streets.

The new defendants are implicated in two additional murders that occurred in broad daylight in Detroit — one on Feb. 7, 2015, and the other on Aug. 20, 2015.

The 6 Mile Chedda Grove street gang operates primarily in an area bordered by East McNichols Road to the north, Kelly Road to the east, Houston-Whittier Street to the south, and Chalmers Street to the west, according to the indictment.

Federal prosecutors and the FBI say gang members have been linked to murders, assaults, robberies, and firearms and narcotics trafficking in the Detroit metropolitan area and in other states. The gang allegedly uses violence to retaliate against rivals, to intimidate witnesses and to advance members’ positions within the gang.

The new charges stem from an investigation by the Detroit One coalition, the FBI’s Violent Gang Task Force and the Detroit Police Gang Intelligence Uni. The task force includes representatives of the Detroit Police Department, Michigan Department of Corrections and the U.S. Border Patrol.

Four defendants were taken into custody over the last two days on the indictment:

• Mario Leico “Ugg” Jackson, 23, of Detroit, charged with racketeering conspiracy;
• Phillip Glen-Earl “Peezy” Peaks, 28, of Detroit, charged with racketeering conspiracy;
• Michael “Mikey Made” Richardson, 28, of Detroit, charged with racketeering conspiracy, felon in possession of a firearm, possession with intentt o distribute heroin and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime;
• Devontae Aaron “Tae” Russell, 23, of Knoxville, Tennessee, charged with racketeering conspiracy.

Seven other defendants are already in federal or state custody based upon other charges, including:

• Mills, who is charged with racketeering conspiracy, and two counts each of murder in aid of racketeering, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, and using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence causing death;
• Wilson, charged with racketeering conspiracy, and two counts each of murder in aid of racketeering, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering and using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence causing death;
• Donell Christopher “Dnell” Thompson, 26, of Detroit, charged with racketeering conspiracy, and one count each of murder in aid of racketeering and using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence causing death;
• Lomnil Bookies “Lomo” Jackson, 23, of Detroit, charged with racketeering conspiracy, and one count each of murder in aid of racketeering, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering and using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence causing death;
• Patrick Jeffrey “Cane” Johnson, 22, of Detroit, charged with racketeering conspiracy;
• Corey Alexander Mills, 22, of Detroit, charged with racketeering conspiracy;
• Robert Wayne “R.B.” Baytops, 41, of Detroit, charged with racketeering conspiracy and felon in possession of firearms.

McQuade credited the Detroit One collaboration with reducing violent crime in some of the most dangerous parts of the city.

“The Detroit One strategy to dismantle violent gangs has two key components — enforcement operations like this one and intervention through the Ceasefire call-in program,” McQuade said. “The Detroit One enforcement efforts target street gangs that are responsible for violence in our neighborhoods. We have seen encouraging results, including a 35 percent reduction in shootings in Detroit’s 9th Precinct, where this gang operates.”

David P. Gelios, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, said the continued success of the Detroit One initiative is “persuasive evidence of how interagency collaboration results in tangible public safety benefits to the citizens we serve in the Detroit metropolitan area.”

“The people of Detroit deserve a safe city in which they may thrive,” Detroit Police Chief James E. Craig added. “The Detroit One partnership is rooted in the belief that all citizens and neighborhoods deserve to be free of crime and our joint efforts to make that a reality will continue.”

Detroit One is a collaborative effort between law enforcement and the community to reduce homicide and other violent crime in Detroit. By working collaboratively, local, state, and federal law enforcement is striving to maximize its ability to identify and arrest the individuals and groups initiating the violence in Detroit. Tuesday’s indictment is the latest in a string of charges from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office during the last four years involving violent street gangs in the city of Detroit, including:

• Seventeen members of the Seven Mile Blood street gang for federal racketeering conspiracy and other violent acts in furtherance of racketeering;
• 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 Vice Lord members 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;
• Nine Vice Lords members for racketeering charges stemming from the shooting of four individuals at their family residence on Detroit’s northwest side;
• Three members of the Band Crew street gang charged under the state of 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 RTM street gang for federal racketeering conspiracy and other violent acts in furtherance of racketeering;
• Twenty-four individuals on drug conspiracy charges for their use of 16 different houses in the east side Ravendale neighborhood of Detroit, many of them abandoned homes, for distributing heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine between 2013 – 2015;
• Fourteen individuals on criminal enterprise, drug distribution or weapons offense for drug distribution in the west side Warrendale neighborhood of Detroit.

Most significantly, Detroit has seen a reduction in the overall violent crime rate every year since the Detroit One collaboration began in 2013, authorities said.

Jackson and Richardson were scheduled appear in federal court in Detroit Tuesday afternoon. The other defendants will appear in federal court on later dates.

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