Wildboys Gang Member Convicted for Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering and Related Firearm Offense

A federal jury in Charleston, South Carolina, yesterday convicted a member of the Wildboys gang of attempted murder in aid of racketeering and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, announced Acting Assistant Attorney Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge C.J. Hyman of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Charlotte, North Carolina Field Division; Solicitor Duffie Stone of the 14th Judicial Circuit; Solicitor David Pascoe of the First Circuit; Sheriff R.A. Strickland of the Colleton County, South Carolina Sheriff’s Office; Chief Wade Marvin of the Walterboro, South Carolina Police Department; Sheriff Al Cannon, Jr. of the Charleston County, South Carolina Sheriff’s Office; Sheriff L. C. Knight of the Dorchester County, South Carolina Sheriff’s Office; Chief Jon Rogers of the Summerville, South Carolina Police Department; Director Jerry Adger of the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services; and Chief Mark Keel of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

Devin Brown, aka “Deno Badazz,” 23, of Walterboro, S.C., was convicted of violent crime in aid of racketeering activity and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence as a result of his involvement in the April 7, 2015, attempted murder of individuals believed to be rival gang members. Brown faces a minimum mandatory term of 10 years in prison on the firearms charge.

According to evidence presented at trial, the defendant was a member of the Wildboys, a violent street gang from the Green Pond area of Walterboro, S.C. Evidence at trial showed that beginning as early as 2012, Wildboys gang members engaged in racketeering activity, to include an April 9, 2012, robbery in Walterboro, and a March 18, 2015, attempted murder in Summerville, S.C.  

Evidence presented at trial also showed that Brown, along with two other members of the Wildboys, committed racketeering acts, including the April 7, 2015 shooting at the home of a rival gang member in the Dooley Hill area of Walterboro. According to the trial evidence, on that date, Brown and two other members of the Wildboys drove past the home of the rival gang members and used assault-type firearms to shoot into the home. An innocent bystander inside the home was shot and injured, the evidence showed.

Four individuals previously pleaded guilty to violent crime in aid of racketeering related to their involvement in the Wildboys gang. On June 2, 2017, U.S. District Judge Richard M. Gergel of the District of South Carolina sentenced Wildboys members and associates Kelvin Mitchell, Damien Robinson, and Brian Manigo for their roles in gang-related racketeering activities. Sentencing is pending for Wildboys member Joshua Manigault.

The case was investigated by the ATF, Charleston, South Carolina, in partnership with the Walterboro Police Department; Colleton County Sheriff’s Office; Charleston County Sheriff’s Office; Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office; Summerville Police Department; Fourteenth Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office; First Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office; South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services; and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Leshia Lee-Dixon of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Tameaka A. Legette, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney from the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office, Bluffton, South Carolina.