2. See id. Both men also contend that the district court erroneously enhanced their sentences based on insufficient and unreliable evidence. The email address cannot be subscribed. Knox's textbook, "An Introduction to Gangs," lists several gang constitutions, which are filled with rules, pseudo-religious ramblings and the expected problems with spelling. The statements did suggest that the original order to issue Williams a beating may have emanated from, or been approved by, a higher authority in the gang; however, A and B agree that the order to beat Williams came to them directly from Hankton. Cobras & Matadors ($) Write a Review. The rules, chock-full of mispellings and street slang, aren't contained in a tidy corporate packet or posted on a store bulletin board. 31: "There will be no breaking into apartment or vacant apartment in the building.". As explained infra, the rules of evidence do not apply at sentencing, thus the judge's decision to consider the code language testimony given by Agent Darin was squarely within his discretion. We do however order a Limited Remand of both Hankton and Davis' sentences in accordance with the procedure set forth in United States v. Paladino. United States v. Giordano, 416 U.S. 505, 549 n. 1, 94 S.Ct. Many of the 46 regulations read like a manual for fast-food employees or convenience-store clerks. Both in Prison and in the street gangs in CA. "The loyalty is to the dollar," said Sgt. All customers entering the building must be searched. See United States v. Schmeilski, 408 F.3d 917, 920 (7th Cir.2005). The government concluded that, because Hankton had admitted to distributing 156 grams of cocaine and because the plea agreements attributed at least an additional 344 grams of crack to him, it was reasonable to conclude from the evidence presented at sentencing that he had distributed in excess of 500 grams of cocaine for the purposes of U.S.S.G 2D1.1. Section 3B1.1 of the sentencing guidelines is applicable where the defendant was an organizer or leader of a criminal activity that involved five or more participants or was otherwise extensive. U.S.S.G. Finally, the rules make clear that anyone who violates them will be dragged before the gang's "board" and punished. Heroin laced with fentanyl has been. Where different aspects or components of the defendant's behavior are addressed by different enhancements, improper double counting has not occurred. At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the number one source of free legal information and resources on the web. See, e.g., United States v. Sutton, 406 F.3d 472, 474 (7th Cir.2005). 8,000 to 10,000 that lives in the United States of America. For example, the government was unable to obtain conclusive information about Hankton and Hankton's associates without arousing suspicion. Additionally, the use of undercover agents [was determined to] be impractical and dangerous due to the highly suspicious' nature of the alleged offenders.. The Mickey Cobras are a lairge street gang affiliatit wi the naitionwide gang affiliation kent as the People Nation. A fact-finder must always draw inferences from veiled allusions and code words. Authorities said the charges marked the first time the gang has been targeted in a major federal prosecution. They don't want the heat. 25. I've caught them as young as 12 on the line.". In a separate indictment, Hankton was accused of passing on orders from gang higher-ups in April 1994 to have Williams killed over a narcotics dispute. 5. "It's a fallacy that they put on paper that you have to be 16 on the line. In fact, both Agent Darin and Jammah Olden testified that the gang's sole source of revenues was from the sale of illegal drugs. In order to assist the court in understanding Hankton's role in the drug trade, Agent Darin-based on his training and four years of experience with drug investigations-testified as to his interpretations of the conversations extracted from the FBI's wiretap recordings, which were replete with code language.14 Specifically, Darin provided background for a number of controlled drug purchases (from Hankton) conducted by the FBI15 and described admissions by the co-defendants that they purchased varying amounts of crack cocaine from Hankton. 8. Federal authorities dealt a blow Thursday to the Mickey Cobras street gang, charging 19 of its leaders and members with narcotics conspiracy and also indicting a top leader on charges he passed along orders to have a woman killed six years ago. Accordingly, lest we allow an illegal sentence to stand, we believe it appropriate to order a limited remand in this case, while retaining jurisdiction, for proceedings consistent with this court's decision in Paladino, 401 F.3d at 483-84. Andrew Martin and Tribune Staff Writer. To support the proposed guidelines enhancements, the government presented evidence detailing Hankton's role as a leader or organizer within the MCs organization. The district judge mandated that the names of the witnesses be kept confidential, due to the fact that they feared retribution from the gang for their statements. See United States v. Barnes, 117 F.3d 328, 337 (7th Cir.1997). Made public recently by police sources, the sheets outline how gang members should behave while peddling drugs in the Robert Taylor Homes. Hardamon, 188 F.3d at 849-50 (quoting United States v. Gerstein, 104 F.3d 973, 978 (7th Cir.1997)). whats the main difference between Mickey Cobras and Maniac Cobras 14 for the Mickey Cobras is "There will be no more paying brothers and sisters to do your security." Rule No. You must be 16 years old to work "on the line." 841 and 846. "And they really do have elaborate procedures.". Smith was best friends with defendant's brother. After all, a sentencing court in making its sentencing determination must draw inferences from a variety of data, including the defendant's demeanor and information in the [presentence report], in order to reach [its] conclusion. See United States v. Frazier, 213 F.3d 409, 417 (7th Cir.2000) (quoting United States v. Fones, 51 F.3d 663, 665 (7th Cir.1995)). Bearing upon this was testimony given by a number of prosecution witnesses who confirmed Hankton's involvement in the murder of Annette Williams, a fellow member of the MCs, in April of 2004. View Menu. This is not to mention the fact that Davis was provided with ample opportunity to rebut the hearsay evidence proffered against him in the form of the co-defendant plea agreements, either by calling his own exculpatory witnesses or through his cross examination of Agent Darin. 1820, 40 L.Ed.2d 341 (1974). Also, although premising multiple enhancements on identical facts' constitutes impermissible double counting the presence of some overlap in the factual basis for two or more upward adjustments does not automatically qualify as double counting. Id. The BPSN and MCN nations later went to war after the cobras blamed jeff fort for the hit. An FBI-led task force and Chicago police arrested Hankton and 12 of the other suspects Thursday. The memo begins by reminding "all brothers of the struggle" about the story of the duck: "If any of you have ever had the opportunity to go on a hunting trip (in the free world) before being locked up, then you know full well that if the duck had kept his mouth shut, instead of quacking, he wouldn't have given his position away and, naturally, wouldn't have been our dinner.". Davis disagreed with each of the proposed enhancements, in the plea agreement, reserved his right to argue his position at sentencing. A.Validity of Davis and Hankton's Sentencing Enhancements. The Mickey Cobras back in 1954 until 1960 were known as the Egyptian Cobras. In the microwave, like I always do. Still a third drug conversation portrays Davis mentioning the purchase of approximately four and a half ounces of cocaine. a. Bell pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 40 years in prison, while the other two enforcers--Jamaine Jackson and Carl Williams--were convicted at trial and given 60-year prison terms each, according to Assistant State's Atty. Notes [ edit] Gatlin was murdered because he provided information to the police about the murder of Tony Dawson, a previously unsolved homicide in Minneapolis. However, even if the judge had taken into account Hankton's leadership role when determining the quantity of drugs attributing attributable to him, this would not have been improper because, as explained above, although there may have been some overlap in the factual predicate for both enhancements, each enhancement addressed distinct aspects of the defendant's conduct. Schmeilski, 408 F.3d at 919. Learn more about FindLaws newsletters, including our terms of use and privacy policy. 4655 Hollywood Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90027 (Map & Directions) Phone: (323) 669-3922. 8-9; see also U.S.S.G. Instead, all of the evidence presented-as well as commonsense-suggest that, in fact, Hankton's gang activities were intimately, related to and intertwined with, his drug distribution activities. In at least one of those conversations Davis states that he purchased powder cocaine specifically for the purpose of further processing it in order to manufacture and distribute the resulting crack. 841 and 846. After their leader, Mickey Cogwell, was gunned down in front of his South Side home in 1977, the gang adopted the name Mickey Cobras in honor of him. 2D1.1. On the record before us, we cannot ascertain with any exacting degree of certainty whether the sentencing judge would have imposed identical sentences for Hankton and Davis had he known that the sentencing guidelines were not mandatory at the time. ", "They look at the buildings as their retail drugstore," said George Knox, a criminal justice professor at Chicago State University who has studied Chicago street gangs. Hankton responds that [i]t's guaranteed. Agent Darin testified that butter was a common code word for cocaine and that the two were actually discussing the future sale of either crack or powder cocaine. "He's got the props. 841(a)(1) (Count VI). metric-conversions.org/. What's more, Hankton's role as leader and organizer is rather persuasively illustrated by the fact that he had the power within the MCs organization to order the brutal beating and murder of one of the gang's members, Annette Williams. (CHICAGO) - JUN 21--Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Chicago Police Department officers arrested 29 alleged members of the Mickey Cobras Street Gang who are suspected of trafficking fentanyl-laced heroin, crack cocaine, and marijuana in parts of Chicago's Southside. In addition, Hankton was charged with four separate counts of distribution of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Clarence Hankton, identified by authorities as the gang's second-ranking leader, was charged as the lead defendant with 18 others in the narcotics conspiracy case and also indicted on murder conspiracy charges for the slaying of 24-year-old Annette Williams in 1994. Specifically, he claims that notwithstanding evidence that he held a high rank in the MCs, his role in that organization did not make him a leader or organizer in a drug distribution offense. Hankton stresses that his rank in the MCs alone did not translate into leadership responsibility, much less control over the gang's drug distribution activities. PDF No. In The Supreme Court of the United States Keith Henderson Staff writer George Papajohn contributed to this article. Hankton was subsequently sentenced to a term of 300 months in prison, while Davis was sentenced to 210 months. 2D1.1(a)(3), Hankton's base offense level was 34 due to the aggregate amount of drugs involved in the offenses he admitted to, i.e., more than 150 grams of crack. Thus, because Agent Darin's credible testimony corroborated the information contained in the co-defendants' plea agreements, the sentencing court did not err in finding that evidence reliable in concluding that Davis was responsible for possessing with the intent to distribute 50 to 150 grams of crack cocaine.27, B.Hankton's Leadership Role in the Offense. Rule No. The disparate nature of behavior addressed under each enhancement, without more, suggests that impermissible double counting pursuant to those particular enhancements would be most unlikely. Find something similiar nearby. 841(a)(1). 1781, 152 L.Ed.2d 860 (2002). In addition, the district judge specifically found Agent Darin to be a credible witness, a determination which bolstered the judge's decision that Darin's testimony concerning the wiretap conversations was reliable. In other words, Davis must present this court with more than conclusory allegations that a government witness is unreliable; he must present evidence which would in some way rebut that testimony or demonstrate that it is inaccurate and should not have been relied upon by the sentencing judge. Indeed, the plea agreements were more than sufficiently corroborated at Hankton's sentencing hearing by the credible testimony of the live witnesses, i.e., Agent Darin and Detective Charles. ", Rule No. Juwan Gatlin was a member of a street gang known as the Mickey Cobras. See United States v. White, 406 F.3d 827, 835 (7th Cir.2005); United States v. Castillo, 406 F.3d 806, 823-24 (7th Cir.2005). Like many of Chicago street gangs, the Mickey Cobras have a long history. For example, the co-defendants' plea agreements state that Hankton sold them primarily crack cocaine-according to the government's calculation, 1156 grams total. On appeal, both Hankton and Davis argue that their respective sentences should be vacated as unconstitutional under the Sixth Amendment citing the district judge's belief that application of the guidelines was mandatory as well as the judge's subsequent enhancement of their sentences on facts which were neither proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt nor admitted by the appellants. Hankton has failed to point to anything in the record which might render Agent Darin's testimony at sentencing unreliable, aside from his assertion that portions of his Darin's testimony constituted inadmissibly hearsay. 801, that evidence was corroborated by other evidence submitted at sentencing, and thus could reasonably be considered reliable by the sentencing judge. 843(b) and 18 U.S.C. See United States v. Puckett, 405 F.3d 589, 597 n. 8 (7th Cir.2005); United States v. Edwards, 397 F.3d 570, 574 (7th Cir.2005). See, e.g., United States v. Hardamon, 188 F.3d 843, 849 (7th Cir.1999). We disagree. As such, the defendant must have exercised some degree of control over others involved in the commission of the offense or he must have been responsible for organizing others for the purpose of carrying out the crime. Id. However, a case was made, which was more than strong enough to convince the jury, that Vega used terms like chickens, roosters and it as code words for drugs. Agent Darin, a member of the FBI's joint gang task force and a trained drug traffic investigation agent, testified concerning Hankton's coordination of the drug trade for the MCs as well as his role as King or leader of the gang throughout the city in 2000 and 2001. Nonetheless, [a] defendant has the due process right to be sentenced on the basis of accurate information. United States v. Salinas, 62 F.3d 855, 859 (7th Cir.1995) (citing United States v. Mustread, 42 F.3d 1097, 1101 (7th Cir.1994)). Was Thf Bayzoo Arrested In Chicago? Weapon Charges and Mugshots Report to work on time. Only if a defendant shows that the information before the court was inaccurate, and that the court relied on it can the defendant successfully challenge his sentence. United States v. Smith, 3 F.3d 1088, 1099 (quoting United States v. Johnson, 997 F.2d 248, 254 (7th Cir. See United States v. Martinez, 289 F.3d 1023, 1028-29 (7th Cir.2002) (holding that reliability may be established by corroborating evidence). The founder of the Egyptian Cobras was James Cogwell. Hankton also claims that the district court erroneously double counted when imposing his sentencing enhancements because the court considered his leadership within the MCs street gang both to enhance his sentence for finding him responsible for distributing more than 500 grams of cocaine, under 2D1.1, and for being an organizer or leader of a criminal activity, under 3B1.1. Authorities arrest alleged Chicago gang members in drug crackdown Also, the district court did not rely solely on witness testimony concluding that Hankton was responsible for distributing more than 500 grams of crack. Also, Hankton and Davis were each charged with additional counts; Hankton was charged with knowingly and intentionally distributing over 150 grams of crack cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. Furthermore, Agent Darin also testified as to Davis' role as a manager/supervisor in the MCs drug operations. Hankton's claim of impermissible double counting finds no support in the record, much less the voluminous amount of case law on this subject. Gutta cobras (including) thf44 in the lowend probably the deep spot for cobras but they not . Said differently, Hankton takes issue with the sentencing judge's focus on his leadership conduct which he claims is unrelated to the underlying crime of distribution of a controlled substance. Notes [ edit] In addition, the judge agreed to maintain the two witnesses statements under seal on the similar grounds. 7-8, when stating that Hankton exercised authority over persons, certainly well more than five or ten. However, Hankton claims that rather than directing its remarks to Mr. Hankton's conduct as it related to the actual offence, i.e., drug distribution, the court dwelled on Mr. Hankton's gang activities. This statement is nothing more than a self-serving red herring. Copyright 2023, Thomson Reuters. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005). 3B1.1(a). Los Angeles, California Employment Laws Overview - The National Law Review 2 The Cobras also moved into the cluster of three buildings in the Washington Park neighborhood at 53rd and State, these buildings were: 5326, 5323 1:30. The rules state that one gang member on "security" patrols the front door of the building, while the other mans the back door. As the King, Hankton was responsible for everything from the direction of the conversion of powder cocaine into crack to the organization of the gang's basketball games. What's more, the evidence submitted at sentencing was internally consistent with the totality of the evidence in the record and various aspects of that evidence corroborated other aspects. The Mickey Cobras are a large street gang affiliated with the nationwide gang alliance known as "People" and based in Chicago. See United States v. Smith, 3 F.3d 1088, 1099. "It's all geared for better business," Guthrie said. The gang long has controlled the area of the Hole, though most of the other buildings in Robert Taylor are the turf of their rival, the Gangster Disciples. The authors have spent decades investigating gangs as well as researching their history and activities, and . The five-point star banner's collective name for joined gangs. In fact, 2D1.1 and 3B1.1(a) are premised on entirely different conduct; for while an individual may be found to have distributed a certain quantity of drugs making him eligible for a sentence enhancement under 2D1.1, he need not be a leader or organizer of a criminal activity, as described by 3B1.1, to do so. Mickey Cobras - Wikipedia In most gangs, Knox said, the street-level security and sellers are rewarded with some money, occasional parties and the hope of moving up the gang ladder. 3B1.1(a).11. In other words, we may correct such an error only if it is intolerable, or results in a miscarriage of justice. See Paladino, 401 F.3d at 481. The trial judge concluded that Davis' base offense level was 32 along with five criminal history points, meaning that the appropriate sentencing range to be applied was 210 to 262 months. The indictment also alleged that the defendants participated in various other drug-related crimes arising out of their membership in, and affiliation with, the Mickey Cobras (MCs) street gang, which operated on the north-side of Chicago, Illinois during the 1980s and 1990s.2. 7. Also a member of the MCs, Olden recounted that the main source of revenue for the gang was the sale of illegal drugs. Knox and gang investigators said lists like the one belonging to the Mickey Cobras are not uncommon among street gangs. INSTRUCTIONS REQUIRED FOR GANG MEMBERSHIP - Chicago Tribune "The leaders of street gangs should understand we know who they are, we know how to catch them and we're going to continue to be coming after them," Lassar told reporters. In Gangs and Organized Crime, George W. Knox, Gregg W. Etter, and Carter F. Smith offer an informed and carefully investigated examination of gangs and organized crime groups, covering street gangs, prison gangs, outlaw motorcycle gangs, and organized crime groups from every continent. Sign in and out each day. See supra p. 9.Hankton argues that the testimony of Detective Charles and Agent Darin as to his role in the MCs should not have been considered because they were [not] qualified as experts in anything. This is misleading, for the district court made an express finding that Detective Charles was indeed an expert on the MCs, see supra p. 7, as well as expressly finding him to be a credible witness. Likewise, Agent Darin was also expressly found by the judge to be a credible and reliable witness. The rules make it clear that activities normally associated with gangs, like graffiti and fighting, are not acceptable while drugs are being sold, he said. Thus, because witness testimony-the testimony of a witness, Agent Darin, whom the district judge had previously determined to be credible-was introduced to corroborate information contained in the co-defendant's plea agreements and thus infused that evidence with an indicia of reliability. See United States v. Martinez, 289 F.3d at 1028-29; Torres-Ramirez, 213 F.3d at 980. Thus, because Hankton was a leader of the MCs, and because the gang was primarily concerned with dealing illegal drugs, it was entirely reasonable and logical for the sentencing judge to infer that Hankton's role as leader of the gang was related to his distribution of crack cocaine.28. Among the co-defendants were Woodrow Green, Jammah Olden, Rasuah Brunner, Ngaya Brunner, Timeka Murdock and Mekeba Gates, many of whom were also members of the MCs and all of whom also entered into plea agreements with the government. Drug Charges Filed Against Alleged Gang Members