Las Vegas, Nev. - Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada, announces that on August 12, 2003, the Grand Jury sitting in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas returned an 80-count Indictment against 21 individuals (a list of defendants and charges is attached herewith), all Las Vegas residents, for allegedly participating in a criminal organization whose members engaged in acts of violence and dealt in controlled substances. The defendants are charged with offenses such as: Participating in a Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization; Maintaining Drug Houses; Conspiracy to Distribute Crack Cocaine; Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering Activity, including Murder and Attempted Murder, Use of a Firearm During a Crime of Violence, and Transporting Minors for Illegal Sexual Activity.

According to the court records, the defendants are members of the "Rolling 60s Crips", a gang which operated principally in Las Vegas and North Las Vegas. Gang members allegedly engaged in acts of violence, including murder, attempted murder, arson, robbery and extortion, and trafficked in controlled substances for the purpose of earning a profit and controlling the marketplace and territory. Gang members were also expected to protect the organization from detection, apprehension, and prosecution.

The investigation and prosecution of the members of the Rolling 60s street gang and their involvement in violent crime and drug trafficking in Clark County, Nevada, is the largest of its kind in the area, and has required the resources, coordination and cooperation of numerous federal, state and local agencies. The Indictment and arrests mark the culmination of an almost two-year long investigation by federal and local law enforcement task forces into an onslaught of gang-related homicides, illegal gun use, and drug trafficking in North Las Vegas and Las Vegas. Since the investigation began, 38 defendants have been indicted in United States District Court in Las Vegas (including the defendants named in the instant indictment), and 11 defendants have been convicted thus far. Numerous others have been charged and convicted in the 8th Judicial District Court in Clark County.

The Indictment returned yesterday identifies seven defendants as leaders of the organization: ARLANDERS GIBSON, a/k/a J-LOU; FREDDIE PRENTISS, a/k/a ROMEO; HENRY CARR, a/k/a HANCO; BENJAMIN MCCARTY, a/k/a BENZO; TORRES HYMON, a/k/a STICK and STICKERBUSH; ANTONIO GIVENS, a/k/a RIDDLER; and KEVIN FLEMING, a/k/a HOUSE. The other defendants are identified as participants and associates of the organization.

The Indictment alleges that from approximately 1992 through July 2003, members of the Rolling 60s Crips, operated "drug houses" in Las Vegas and North Las Vegas for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing and using controlled substances. These "drug houses" were located at 113 George Place (Cadillac Arms I Apartments), 1662 Cadillac (Cadillac Arms II Apartments), 1635 N. Main (Vegas Verdes Motel), 1002 F. Street, 1941 Glider, 1909 Gregory, 705 Adams, and the Cactus Hotel. From January 13, 2001, to July 30, 2003, the Indictment states that approximately 746 grams of crack cocaine was distributed by 11 of the defendants.

Some of the violent crimes committed by the defendants, as alleged in the Indictment, are as follows:

• On November 22, 1992, July 10, 1994, and May 3, 1995, robberies by gunpoint at three separate
• Albertson's grocery stores in Las Vegas and North Las Vegas;
  On February 28, 1994, defendant GIBSON, a/k/a J-LOU, shot and attempted to murder Terrell Dent and attempted to murder Omar Walls on Lawry Street in North Las Vegas.
• On May 3, 1995, defendant ANTONIO GIVENS, a/k/a RIDDLER, and other unidentified Rolling 60s gang members threatened and robbed four individuals at gunpoint at the Ambassador Hotel at 916 Fremont Street in Las Vegas.
• On December 21, 1997, defendant DARREAL BIDDLE, a/k/a D-LOCC, shot, robbed and murdered taxicab driver Billy Rex Traver in North Las Vegas.
• On September 26, 2001, defendants DARREAL BIDDLE, a/k/a D-LOCC; KEVIN FLEMING, a/k/a HOUSE; and MYRON MANGHUM, a/k/a C-BLACC, shot, murdered and stole cocaine from, or assisted each other in doing, Patrick Hawkins and Adrian Williams at a Las Vegas apartment.
• On February 11, 2002, defendant MYRON MANGHUM, a/k/a C-BLACC, and other unidentified Rolling 60s gang members set fire to and burned the home of Eddie Davis at 1837 West Nelson in North Las Vegas.
• On May 3, 2002, defendant MYRON MANGHUM, a/k/a C-BLACC, and other unidentified gang members shot and murdered Ernest Williams and attempted to murder Clinton Reece, Tyrie Barnett, and Jonathon Tolliver near the Texas Station Casino in North Las Vegas.
• On July 7, 2002, defendants MICHAEL COLEMAN, a/k/a SCRATCH, and ANTONIO GIVENS, a/k/a RIDDLER, and other unidentified Rolling 60s gang members robbed the Gold Spike Casino in Las Vegas, by pointing firearms at employees and ordering one of them to provide access to the casino cage.
• On March 15, 2003, defendant MICHAEL COLEMAN, a/k/a SCRATCH, and other unidentified gang members, used a firearm to attempt the murder of Louis Myles and Kenny Staten and to assault Manuel Banez, at 2408 North Las Vegas Boulevard in North Las Vegas.
• On May 3, 2003, defendant FLOYD STRICKLAND, a/k/a LIL'L and TELES or TELLIS, and other unidentified Rolling 60s gang members, used a firearm to shoot and murder Jessie McFadden at 1960 Martin Luther King Boulevard in North Las Vegas.

Warrants for arrest were issued for twelve defendants: ARLANDERS GIBSON, HENRY ARTHUR CARR, MYRON MANGHUM, JORDAN CRANE, JAMAR BELIN, TODD DAVIS, CLARENCE BRELAND, FLOYD STRICKLAND, CALVIN MOTEN, RONNIE GIBSON, KEITH KELLY, and KEVIN FLEMING. Four defendants, Arlanders Gibson, Kevin Fleming, Myron Manghum, and Ronnie Gibson, were arrested yesterday without incident; the other 8 defendants remain at large. Items seized incidental to the arrests included large quantities of firearms and drugs. All other defendants were already in state or federal custody at the time of the Indictment. Initial appearance hearings for most of the defendants will be held Tuesday, August 19, 2003, at 3:00 p.m. before United States Magistrate Judge Lawrence R. Leavitt.

Under federal statutes, if convicted, the defendants are facing the maximum penalties set forth in the attached "FACT SHEET". The actual sentences, however, will be imposed by the Court and dictated by the United States Sentencing Guidelines.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Violent Crime Squad in Las Vegas, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Las Vegas, the Drug Enforcement Administration in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the Henderson Police Department, the North Las Vegas Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Bliss of the U.S. Attorney's Office Organized Crime Strike Force and Assistant United States Attorney Brian Quarles, and the Clark County District Attorney's Office.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

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