The Black Disciple Gangster Nation (BDGN) is a gang that was formed in the south side of Chicago in 1960 when two rival gangs, the Black Disciple Nation (led by David Barksdale) and the Gangster Nation (led by Larry Hoover) combined to become one group under co-leadership. Larry Hoover made a statement in the 1990s claiming that he had put his violent past behind him and that GD now meant Growth and Development, not Gangster Disciples. Dominque Maxwell, 28, of Cape Girardeau, the alleged Assistant Governor of the state of Missouri, is charged with RICO conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and related firearms crimes. Warren Griffin, 51, of Lancaster, Kentucky, an alleged national Board Member, is charged with RICO conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, and related firearms crimes. He was accompanied to the Oval Office by Hoovers attorney, who explained that Hoover is being held in the Colorado Supermax prison alongside killers for economic crimes and that he was unfairly targeted because he was gaining political power from the Chicago community. The Atlanta case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Hans B. Miller of the Criminal Divisions Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. ATLANTA -- Alleged members of the Gangster Disciples, including high-ranking leaders and a former Atlanta-area police officer who prosecutors say claimed to be a . Download the WHAS11 News app now. sweeping racketeering indictment against the Gangster Disciples. NASHVILLE, Tenn., - June 30, 2017 - A federal grand jury in Nashville, Tenn., returned a 40-count indictment yesterday, charging 11 members of the Gangster Disciples with conspiring to participate in a racketeering enterprise that included multiple murders, including the murder of a witness; a drug distribution conspiracy; and multiple other crimes of violence in aid of Hoover was born on November 30, 1950 in Jackson, Mississippi. The indictment also alleges various acts of drug trafficking by Gangster Disciples members, including an ongoing scheme to smuggle the synthetic drug K2 into Missouri state prisons. If Leinenweber decides Hoover has served enough time in federal prison under the life term he was handed in 1997 for running a criminal enterprise, Hoover still faces a 200-year Illinois state court sentence from 1973 for ordering the killing of a gang member he suspected was stealing from him. Violators may be subject to civil and criminal litigation and penalties. (WMC) - The Gangster Disciples is a dangerous gang founded in the 1970's in Chicago, Illinois. Seven alleged members of the violent Gangster Disciples gang, including top national and state leaders, are in custody after multiple arrests this morning for their alleged participation in a years-long interstate racketeering conspiracy involving multiple murders, drug trafficking, and other crimes. Barry Boyce, 44, of Charleston, Missouri, an alleged member of the gang, is charged with RICO conspiracy. how interested you are in the Fire, whose season begins Saturday against New York City FC at Soldier Field. We are committed to dismantling violent gangs like the Gangster Disciples and holding their members accountable for criminal conduct., These charges target national and state leaders of one of the most notorious street gangs in America, said Steven D. Weinhoeft, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois. He pointed out that they came from Trumps U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition to the RICO conspiracy, all 16 defendants are charged with a cocaine-distribution conspiracy, and Crawford, Shaw, Taylor, Champion and Bowers are charged with seven counts of attempted murder in aid of racketeering and using a firearm during the commission of those offenses. CHICAGO (AP) _ Five members of the Gangster Disciples street gang have been indicted in the killings of two fellow gang members, in what one prosecutor Thursday called ``cold, steely, calculated business decisions. One of the victims was cooperating with investigators. Walton, Ahmad and Laderris Dickerson, 45, of Chicago, are also charged with carjacking and Walton and Dickerson are charged with a related firearms offense. Assistant governors collect dues from individual groups, called "counts" or "decks.". Hoover is serving a life sentence in a super-max prison in Colorado. The long list of violent crimes alleged in this indictment including two murders and multiple violent assaults make plain the threat to our communities posed by criminal organizations like the Gangster Disciples, said Nicholas L. McQuaid, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. Among the crimes alleged in the indictment are two gang-related murders. The gang employs a structured hierarchy, with leadership positions such as national Board Members and state Governors. Each of the defendants is alleged to be a member or leader of the Gangster Disciples and to have conspired to conduct the gangs affairs through a pattern of racketeering. EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Steven D. Weinhoeft, announced today that seven alleged members of the violent Gangster Disciples gang, including top national and state leaders, have been charged in a federal indictment accusing them of a years-long interstate racketeering conspiracy involving multiple murders, drug trafficking, and other crimes. An estimated 2,000 people have been identified by police as members of gangs. It seems almost impossible that he would be able to communicate that to anyone if he were trying to, he said. The lawlessness these gangs bring to our cities is terribly destructive and oftentimes difficult to prosecute. See GD. They'll usually deal cocaine and heroin, according to the Department of Justice. January 25, 2021. The indictment says the two men threatened to kill anyone who challenged their authority and, on May 18, 2018, shot and killed a rival Gangster Disciples board member on the South Side of Chicago. The F.B.I. The indictment alleges he was conspiring with Anthony Dobbins, another board member, who was among those arrested. Certain defendants were also charged with murder, attempted murder, and various firearms crimes. Many were skeptical, including the Chicago Tribune. The Black Disciple Gangster Nation was responsible for the death of Army sergeant Juwan Williams during a brutal initiation beating that included kicks to the head. Harrell, who spent time in prison for financial crimes about 20 years ago, says his goal is to feed people and help rehabilitate ex-offenders like himself. Murder in aid of racketeering is a death-eligible offense. The other shows a gang-related shooting captured by police cameras in the middle of the day. Eight fellow soldiers were tried in connection with the death. For Yates, 20 years in prison was enough, according to Safer. This prosecution underscores that coordinated criminal activity will be met with a coordinated and focused law enforcement response by the Criminal Division and our law enforcement partners at the federal, state, and local level. The indictment describes the Gangster Disciples as a violent gang with a long history of lawlessness in the United States. "They know when we make the arrest of a 12-year-old, it's going to not really go very far.". Yates and Harrell see it as ironic that Trump, who has refused to denounce white supremacists, signed the law that allowed Yates, a Black man, to leave prison. Within Georgia, the leadership of the Gangster Disciples resided mostly in metro Atlanta, yet the reach of the crimes committed extended into far south and west Georgia. Two leaders of the Gangster Disciples, a national street gang with roots in Chicago, were sentenced on Friday for a racketeering conspiracy involving murder. Formed in 1974 as a 60-man operation, the GD has matured into a centralized criminal organization with nearly 30,000 members in Chicago and spreading into at least 35 other States with several thousand more members. But recent indictments against Gangster Disciples members downstate and in Atlanta suggest that the corporate structure of the gang has remained in place. Nothing seemed to have changed in his hometown since he was arrested in the 1990s. As part of this investigation, we took those concerns to Louisville Metro Police Chief Erika Shields, who sent this statement: Working to curb violent crime is one of my top priorities at LMPD. Basically, they got de facto life sentences for drugs, Khalalah Jackson says of her husband and his co-defendants. These guys have evolved to help the community they harmed.. An official website of the United States government. Im not saying that, you know, Im going to vote for the guy, Harrell says of Trump. We also wanted to know or did we? The Gangster Disciples are a highly organized and ruthless gang that recognizes no geographical boundaries, and its members have far too long indiscriminately preyed upon and infected the good people of our communities like a cancer. The charges and allegations in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Board Members: highest-ranking members after the Chairman. The gang employs a structured hierarchy, with leadership positions such as national Board Members and state Governors. Each of the defendants is alleged to be a member or leader of the Gangster Disciples and to have conspired to conduct the gangs affairs through a pattern of racketeering. The federal indictment was unsealed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. Michael Drummound, 49, of Marietta, was a member of the Gangster Disciples. Anthony Dobbins, 53, of Troy, Illinois, an alleged national Board Member, is charged with RICO conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, and related firearms crimes. The case was unsealed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. Sean Clemon, 50, of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, the alleged Governor of the state of Missouri, is charged with RICO conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and related firearms crimes. The lawlessness these gangs bring to our cities is terribly destructive and oftentimes difficult to prosecute. Twenty-two members of the Black Disciple Gangster Nation received indictments for murder in 2016 including one county police officer who warned gang members about police raids and acted as a hitman. The RICO conspiracies charged here include attempted murder, narcotics trafficking, extortion, firearms crimes, obstruction of justice and other crimes in furtherance of the Gangster Disciples enterprise and to raise funds for the gang. "The violence that we're seeing now concerns me," Sanders said. This case results from investigations by ATF, FBI, BOP, IRS CI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Missouri Department of Corrections, Illinois State Police, the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis, Bridgeton Police Department, Cape Girardeau Police Department, Mississippi County Sheriffs Office, and Chicago Police Department. Hoover got arrested and went to prison and continued to run the gang from behind bars.