Final Defendant Sentenced in Murder, Racketeering Case

Multiple Life Sentences Handed Down in Short North Posse Gang Case

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The last of 20 defendants in a gang-related racketeering and murder case received his sentence today in U.S. District Court.

Lance Green, 37, formerly of Columbus, was sentenced to 17 years in prison. He pleaded guilty in June before his slated trial in July to one count of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of murder in aid of racketeering.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Timothy J. Plancon, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Trevor Velinor, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien and Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs announced the sentences handed down by U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley.

The 20 individuals, associated with the Short North Posse’s “Cut Throat Committee,” were indicted in October 2014 in a racketeering case, with charges that include 14 previously unsolved murders, attempted murders, drug trafficking, weapons offenses, extortion and robbery. Of the 20 total defendants, six were convicted at trial, 13 pleaded guilty and one has died.

Their sentences range from seven years in prison to multiple life terms with no chance of parole. One of the group’s “bosses,” Robert Ledbetter, was sentenced to several consecutive life sentences last week.

“Let this serve as a clear message that if you terrorize our streets with violence you will spend significant time in federal prison, and for the six men in this case who were convicted at trial, they’ll be spending the rest of their lives there,” U.S. Attorney Glassman said.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the two-year investigation by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, DEA, ATF, Columbus Police, Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin's Office, 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, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys David DeVillers, Kevin Kelley and Brian Martinez and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jimmy Lowe with Franklin County Prosecutor O’Brien’s Office, who represented the United States in these cases.