Officials: Leader Of Detroit's Vice Lords Gang Gets 20 Years In Prison
DETROIT (WWJ) - The 26-year-old leader of what prosecutors describe as a violent Detroit street gang — the Traveling Vice Lords — has been sentenced to 20-years in prison.
Antonio Clark, aka "Cheeto," received his punishment this week after pleading guilty in January to two counts of attempted murder in aid of racketeering and using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, in connection with the shooting of four family members in May 2015.
As admitted in the plea agreements, members of the Traveling Vice Lords -- acting at the direction of Vice Lord leaders including Clark -- were searching for two brothers who had attempted to leave the gang as part of a plan to "violate" the brothers for their perceived infractions against the gang.
The defendants further admitted that, on May 7, 2015, they and others met at a Vice Lord member's house to discuss their plan and collect firearms, including an AK-47 assault rifle, and then traveled in multiple cars to the intended victims' house. After a brief confrontation with the brothers' family members, Clark opened fire with an AK-47, firing at the family more than two dozen times and hitting the brothers, their mother and 15-year-old sister. All of the victims survived the shooting.
Seven other Vice Lord members also pleaded guilty to charges relating to the shooting, including racketeering conspiracy and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering. Four of the gang members have already been sentenced and received the following sentences:
• Aramis Wilson, aka "Ace," 25, of Detroit – 12 years, 6 months
• Dion Robinson, aka "Doggy," 38, of Detroit – 10 years, 1 month
• Jonathan Kinchen, aka "Deago," 23, of Detroit – 10 years
• Kojuan Lee, aka "Juan," 20, of Detroit – 8 years, 1 month
The federal investigation includes additional charges. On May 25, an alleged senior leader of the Traveling Vice Lords, Burney Everett, aka "Tank," 27, of Detroit, was charged with various offenses, including racketeering conspiracy, attempted murder in aid of racketeering and witness tampering.
According to the allegations in the indictment, on May 7, 2015, Everett, who holds the rank of "Three-star Universal Elite" within the gang, instructed Vice Lord members to carry out this shooting, and later plotted with other Vice Lord members to kill witnesses in retaliation for those witnesses providing information to law enforcement authorities about the shooting.
A superseding indictment was returned on July 13, charging Jamerio Clark, 28, of Detroit, Antonio Clark's brother, with witness tampering and obtaining and disclosing private health information to the gang. The private information belonged to potential witnesses and victims, and came from a patient database of a Detroit area medical provider for whom he worked.
The charges related to the May 7, 2015 shooting are just one component of the federal government's prosecution of the Vice Lords street gang, which has led to the arrests and convictions of dozens of Vice Lords leaders and members over the last few years. In two trials during March and May 2015, juries convicted eight leaders and members of the Phantom Outlaw Motorcycle Club, many of whom were also leaders and members of the Vice Lords, for various crimes, including a mass murder plot against a rival organization of the Phantoms and the shooting of a member of another rival organization.
Among those eight convicted defendants was the national president of the Phantoms and the "three-star general" over all of the Vice Lords in Michigan,
Antonio Johnson, aka "MT" and "Mister Tony," who was sentenced to 35 years in prison on September 8, 2015 after convictions for racketeering conspiracy, murder conspiracy in aid of racketeering, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, aiding and abetting the use and carry of firearms during and in relation to a crime of violence, and felon in possession of a firearm.
"Because so much of the violence in Detroit is driven by street gangs, we are focusing on dismantling them and prosecuting their leaders," US Attorney Barbara McQuade said in a statement. "The Detroit One partnership brings together various law enforcement organizations to ensure information sharing and coordination so that we can bring strong cases against these violent criminals."
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 persons and groups initiating the violence in Detroit. Since these collaborative efforts began, Detroit has seen a decrease in the homicide rate from 386 in 2012 to 295 in 2015 and a steady decrease in the overall violent crime rate.
