LAS VEGAS GANG MEMBER PLEADS GUILTY TO RACKETEERING, DRUG CHARGES

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Las Vegas Street Gang Member Pleads Guilty to Racketeering and Drug Charges

On the second day of his federal jury trial, a Las Vegas Playboy Bloods street gang member pleaded guilty today to racketeering and drug charges, announced U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden of the District of Nevada and Leslie R. Caldwell, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

“We will use federal resources to prosecute street gang members who commit cowardly and horrible crimes in our community,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden.   “I commend the many law enforcement officers who worked on this investigation and assisted us in ensuring a conviction in this case.”

Markette Tillman, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of RICO conspiracy and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, and is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kent J. Dawson on Oct. 28, 2014.   Tillman faces up to 20 years in prison on each count, as well as fines of up to $1 million.   The jury trial began yesterday, July 28, 2014, and the government had called seven witnesses to testify.   Tillman is the remaining gang member to be convicted out of 10 charged in a RICO indictment filed in 2008.

According to the guilty plea agreement and evidence produced at trial, the Bloods are a nationally-known criminal street gang whose members engage in drug trafficking and acts of violence.   The Playboy Bloods is a local “set” or affiliate of the Bloods, with local control and operation within the Las Vegas metropolitan area.   The Playboy Bloods operate primarily in the Sherman Gardens Annex, a public housing complex, located at the corner of Doolittle and H Streets in Las Vegas, and commonly called the “Jets.”   On or about Jan. 20, 2004, Tillman aided and abetted the murder of a security guard at the Jets.   The guard approached Tillman and several other Playboy Bloods and told them to leave the property.   An argument ensued, and the guard rode away on his bicycle to get help.   One of the Playboy Bloods fired a gun at the guard, hitting him two times and killing him.   Tillman admitted that he aided and abetted the murder of the guard and acted deliberately and intentionally with extreme disregard for human life.   Tillman further admitted that he agreed with other members of the Playboy Bloods to manufacture and distribute narcotics, primarily crack cocaine, and to operate drug houses within the Playboy Bloods’ turf.   Tillman specifically admitted to distributing in excess of 280 grams of crack cocaine.   Tillman also admitted that he distributed crack cocaine to another person on about Jan. 3, 2007, at one of the drug houses.

The cases were investigated by the FBI’s Las Vegas Safe Streets Gang Task Force, which includes officers from the North Las Vegas Police Department and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nicholas D. Dickinson and Phillip N. Smith, Jr., and Kevin L. Rosenberg, Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice Organized Crime and Gang Section.

STREET GANG MEMBER SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR VARIOUS CRIMES

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Las Vegas Street Gang Member Sentenced to Life in Prison_for Racketeering, Murder, Firearm, and Drug Charges

A member of the Playboy Bloods street gang was sentenced today to life in prison for the retaliation murder of a man in November 2004 and the armed robbery of a Henderson, Nev., casino in 2002, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden of the District of Nevada.

Jacorey Taylor, aka “Mo-B,” 30, who was convicted by a jury in May 2013, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert C. Jones. Taylor was convicted of engaging in a racketeering (RICO) conspiracy, committing violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity, using a firearm during a crime of violence, participating in a drug conspiracy, and possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute.  He is the ninth gang member to be convicted out of 10 charged in a RICO indictment filed in 2008.  The remaining defendant, Markette Tillman, 31, is awaiting trial.

Taylor and co-defendants Reginald Dunlap, aka “Bowlie,” and Steven Booth, aka “Stevie-P,” were convicted of participating in the murder of Billy Ray Thomas, who was shot multiple times in the back on the morning of Nov. 1, 2004, as he worked on a car in the parking lot of the Pecos Terrace Apartments while waiting to take his girlfriend to work.  The defendants murdered Thomas due to their mistaken belief that Thomas was a member of a rival street gang.  According to evidence presented at trial, two car loads of Playboy Bloods members and associates, including Taylor, Dunlap, Booth and others, drove through known Crip neighborhoods searching for rivals to retaliate against for the murder of Quaza Burns, a leader of the Playboy Bloods.  The victim, Billy Ray Thomas, had no gang affiliation.

Evidence produced at trial also showed that on March 21, 2002, Taylor, armed with an AR-15 style assault rifle, and another man armed with an handgun entered the Klondike Casino in Henderson, forced their way behind the casino cage, and robbed the casino of over $7,000 in currency.

Dunlap and Booth pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges during Taylor’s trial and were each sentenced in April 2013 to 20 years in prison.  There is no parole in the federal criminal justice system.

According to court documents and evidence produced at trial, the Bloods are a nationally known criminal street gang whose members engage in drug trafficking and acts of violence.  The Playboy Bloods is a local “set” or affiliate of the Bloods, with local control and operation within the Las Vegas metropolitan area.  Other Bloods sets within the Las Vegas metropolitan area include the Piru Bloods and the West Coast Bloods.  A subset of the Playboy Bloods is the Full Throttle Clique, a group made up of Playboy Bloods members who engage in acts of violence, including murder.  According to evidence presented at trial, Taylor, Dunlap, and Booth were all members of the “Full Throttle Clique” of the Playboy Bloods.  Taylor, along with other Playboy Bloods enterprise members, operated drug houses in the Sherman Gardens Annex (also known as “The Jets”) and the surrounding areas.

Eight other defendants have been convicted and sentenced.

 The cases were investigated by the FBI’s Las Vegas Safe Streets Gang Task Force, which includes officers from the North Las Vegas Police Department and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nicholas D. Dickinson, and Phillip N. Smith, Jr., and Kevin L. Rosenberg, Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice Organized Crime and Gang Section.

COLOMBIAN MARITIME TRAINER AND CO-CONSPIRATOR SENTENCED FOR ATTEMPTING TO TRANSPORT THOUSANDS OF KILO’S OF COCAINE

The following is an excerpt from the Department of Justice website:
Friday, September 30, 2011
Former Colombian Maritime Training Instructor and Co-Conspirator Sentenced to Prison on U.S. Drug Charges
WASHINGTON – A former Colombian maritime training instructor and a co-conspirator were sentenced to federal prison today for conspiring to transport thousands of kilograms of cocaine from various ports along the coast of Colombia to waiting vessels that transported the cocaine to the United States and other countries, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Wilson Jesus Torres-Torres, a Colombian maritime training instructor, and Baudilio Vivero-Cardenas, were sentenced to 144 months and 96 months in prison, respectively. They pleaded guilty on Dec. 30, 2010, before U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle in the District of Columbia to one count of conspiracy to violate the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act.
Torres-Torres and Vivero-Cardenas were charged in a one-count indictment returned in the District of Columbia on Feb. 24, 2009. They were arrested in Colombia on Sept. 30, 2009. Vivero-Cardenas was extradited to the United States on Sept. 2, 2010, and Torres-Torres was extradited to the United States on Sept. 23, 2010.
According to court documents, from September 2005 to February 2009, Torres-Torres and Vivero-Cardenas were members of a Colombian drug trafficking organization based in Buenaventura, Colombia, that transported large quantities of cocaine for various other drug trafficking organizations. The defendants admitted that they used fishing vessels and “go-fast” boats to transport thousands of kilograms of cocaine from various ports along the coast of Colombia to waiting transport vessels on the high seas, which would transport the cocaine to the United States and other countries. According to court documents, the vessels involved in the conspiracy were equipped with high frequency radios, global positioning system devices, satellite telephones, large amounts of fuel, and multiple outboard motors to facilitate the transport of cocaine over long distances on the high seas until the destination or off-loading rendezvous point was reached.
The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Charles D. Griffith Jr., Meredith A. Mills and Tritia L. Yuen of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section. The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Miami Field Division; Washington, D.C., Office; Cartagena, Colombia, Resident Office; and the Special Operations Division. Significant assistance was provided by the U.S. Coast Guard in interdicting and recovering more than 21,000 kilograms of cocaine.”