However, those sentencing hearings will not be held until the 6th Circuitįirst decides whether the trio's convictions will stand.KNOXVILLE, Tenn. Supreme Court decision on federal sentencing guidelines. Jennings did concede at Wednesday's hearing that Williams, Young and SmithĪre entitled to new sentencing hearings because of a recent landmark U.S. Lomonaco replied, "If the government had only used what was necessary, this "You can't talk about these events without a lot of gang talk and gangĮvidence, can you?" Boggs asked Lomonaco. Gang activity against prosecutors' need to prove the gang was a front for Ultimately must weigh the potential for prejudicing jurors with talk of Boggs wondered aloud whether the appellate court "This is how these guys identified each other on the street," he said.Ĭhief Judge Danny J. Nicknames during the trial to identify individual members and their He said the government was essentially forced to use gang titles and "This gang was about nothing but the drug trade," Jennings said. Attorney David Jennings argued there was no distinctionīetween the gang and the cocaine conspiracy. Title Young held within the gang in his role as head of security for the group.Īssistant U.S. Were prejudiced by repeated references to her client as gang "war chief," a Young's attorney, Angela Morelock, told the appellate judges that jurors "( Williams ) was tried as a gang member rather than as a cocaine "Right from the start, the first words of the indictment said theĭefendants are all members of the Vice Lords gang operating in Knoxville," Leader and his two underlings were convicted not by proof of a drugĬonspiracy but by gang affiliation alone. Lomonaco argued before a three-judge appeals panel Wednesday that the gang Most members pleaded guilty, but Williams, Young and Smith took their case Gleaned evidence showing the organization's sole purpose was hawking crack.ĭrug conspiracy indictments were handed up by a federal grand jury in 2002. Gang's meeting place, dubbed the "Honeycomb," authorities contended they Using secret recording devices stashed inside the It was that level of organization that ultimately enabled authorities to Titles of rank and regular business meetings. Unlike most Knoxville gangs, the Vice Lords were The Vice Lords were no Mafia, but the gang was in a class of its own on Authorities could and did nab individual gang membersįor his or her misdeeds, but the gang itself was legally untouchable,Ībsent some showing of Mafia-style racketeering. The case was theĪs such, it tested the ability of the government to prove that a gang isīeing a member of a gang is just as legal as signing on with a civic group The convictions came after the entire gang, whose members numbered as highĪs 26, was indicted as a drug-trafficking organization. With more than 20 Vice Lords members to dominate the crack cocaine trade in District Court in late 2003 of conspiring Williams and two gang members, Allen "Capone" Young and Michael "New York" Lomonaco's client is Walter "Heavy" Williams, leader of the Imperial Insane "My client was the leader of the gang," defense attorney Phil Lomonaco saidĪt a hearing in the 6th U.S. Under federal drug conspiracy laws faced its first appellate courtĬhallenge Wednesday as attorneys accused prosecutors of effectively VICE LORDS 'DRUG GANG' REFERENCES CHALLENGEDĬINCINNATI - The landmark prosecution of an entire Knoxville street gang Contact: Website: Details: Author: Jamie Satterfield URL: Newshawk: Beth Votes: 0 Pubdate: Thu, Source: Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN) Copyright: 2005 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.
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