COLUMBUS – A federal grand jury has indicted 17 people in
connection with a series of violent crimes including 12 unsolved murders as
well as other attempted murders, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking,
extortion and robbery. The defendants are accused of being an organized
criminal enterprise known as the Short North Posse. Eleven defendants could
face the death penalty if convicted of the crimes in the indictment.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern
District of Ohio, Kevin R. Cornelius, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI), James V. Allen, Special Agent in Charge, Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA), Michael Boxler, Special Agent in Charge,
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Franklin County Sheriff
Zach Scott, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien, and Columbus Police Chief
Kim Jacobs announced the indictment, which was unsealed today following early
morning efforts to arrest and locate the defendants.
The indictment alleges that beginning in 2005, members of
the enterprise originally referred to themselves solely as the Short North
Posse. Later some members began subsets of the Short North Posse referring to
themselves as the Cut Throat Committee and later the Homicide Squad. Still
within the Short North Posse, Cut Throat Committee and Homicide Squad
specialized in murders and robberies of rival gang members, other drug dealers,
and targets thought to have large sums of cash or firearms. The Short North
Posse also identified themselves nationally with the Crips street gang.
A list of those charged is attached.
The indictment charges one or more of the defendants with 12
unsolved homicides, 23 attempted homicides, 41 violent felonies and 45 weapons
offenses. The crimes occurred in Canal Winchester, Chillicothe, Columbus,
Pataskala, Pickerington, and Zanesville, between 2005 and 2012.
The indictment is a result of a two-year long investigation
by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, DEA,
ATF, Columbus Police, Franklin County Sheriff Zach Scott’s Office, and Franklin
County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien’s Office. Fairfield County Prosecutor Gregg Marx,
Licking County Prosecutor Kenneth Oswalt, Muskingum County Prosecutor D.
Michael Haddox, Ross County Prosecutor Matthew S. Schmidt, law enforcement
leaders from those counties, and officials of the Ohio Department of
Rehabilitation and Correction joined U.S. Attorney Stewart in announcing the
charges.
“As part of the investigation, law enforcement set up a
tip-line in February seeking information on unsolved murders in central Ohio,”
U.S. Attorney Stewart said. “Because of public response and law enforcement
determination and hard work, we’re announcing charges against people a grand
jury alleges were responsible for 12 unsolved homicides.”
All defendants will appear before a U.S. Magistrate Judge
who will determine whether or not to hold them without bond until trial.
Stewart commended Assistant U.S. Attorneys David DeVillers
and Kevin Kelley, as well as Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jimmy Lowe with
Franklin County Prosecutor O’Brien’s Office, who are prosecuting the case.
Charges contained in an indictment are allegations. All
defendants should be presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
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