Charges of Conviction Included Racketeering, Drug
Trafficking, Armed Robberies, and Firearms Used in Furtherance of Drug
Trafficking and Violent Crimes
Benjamin G. Greenberg, United States Attorney for the
Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Ari C. Shapira for the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field
Division; Special Agent in Charge Robert Lasky for the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Adolphus P.
Wright for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field
Division; Chief Jorge R. Colina of the City of Miami Police Department (MPD);
and Director Juan J. Perez of the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) announced
the trial convictions of ten members and associates of a violent criminal
enterprise operating in Miami, Florida, as part of the Southern District of
Florida Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP) initiative.
This prosecution resulted from the Operation Northern Light
Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) that began in May of
2015. The Operation Northern Light Task
Force is jointly-led by the United States Attorney’s Office in Miami, the FBI,
ATF, and DEA, with participation from MPD, MDPD, and other state and local law
enforcement agencies, and focuses on the investigation and reduction of
organized violent crime in the north end of Miami-Dade County.
In 2017, fourteen individuals were charged by indictment
with various criminal acts, including participating in a racketeering
conspiracy; facilitating a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute
narcotics, including crack cocaine; commercial armed robberies; and the use of
firearms in furtherance of robberies and narcotics trafficking.
Ten of the charged individuals, all of Miami, proceeded to
trial and were convicted on September 14, 2018, of the following offenses:
Antonio Glass was convicted of one count of Racketeering
Conspiracy, one count of Drug Distribution Conspiracy, and one count of
Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute. Glass faces a mandatory minimum term of 10
years and up to life in prison.
Jerimaine Bryant was convicted of one count of Racketeering
Conspiracy, one count of Drug Distribution Conspiracy, and three counts of
Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute. Jerimaine Bryant faces a mandatory minimum
term of 20 years and up to life in prison.
Samuel Hayes was convicted of one count of Racketeering
Conspiracy, two counts of Robbery, and one count of Possession of a Firearm in
Furtherance of a Crime of Violence.
Hayes faces a mandatory minimum term of 5 years and up to life in prison.
Curtis Bryant was convicted of one count of Racketeering
Conspiracy, one count of Drug Distribution Conspiracy, and one count of
Attempted Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute. Curtis Bryant faces a mandatory minimum term
of 10 years and up to life in prison.
Levi Bryant was convicted of one count of Drug Distribution
Conspiracy, and one count of Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent
to Distribute. Levi Bryant faces a
mandatory minimum term of life in prison.
Michael Walker was convicted of one count of Racketeering
Conspiracy, one count of Drug Distribution Conspiracy, and one count Possession
of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute. Walker faces a mandatory minimum term of 10
years and up to life in prison.
Reginald Graham was convicted of one count of Racketeering
Conspiracy, one count of Drug Distribution Conspiracy, and one count of
Attempted Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute.
Graham faces a mandatory minimum term of 10 years and up to life in prison.
Daniel Jones was convicted of one count of Drug Distribution
Conspiracy. Daniel Jones faces a
mandatory minimum term of 10 years and up to life in prison.
Torivis Ingram was convicted of one count of Drug Distribution
Conspiracy, and one count of Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent
to Distribute. Ingram faces a mandatory
minimum term of life in prison.
Mario Rodriguez was convicted of one count of Drug
Distribution Conspiracy, one count of Possession of a Controlled Substance with
Intent to Distribute, and one count of Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance
of a Drug Trafficking Crime. Rodriguez
faces a mandatory minimum term of 15 years and up to life in prison.
U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez has scheduled the
sentencing hearings of the defendants, who were convicted at trial, on various
dates throughout December 2018.
Prior to the trial, co-defendants Vencess Toby, Donzell
Jones, and Latitia Houser pled guilty to one count of Conspiracy to Possess a
Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute.
Toby was sentenced to 60 months in prison. Donzell Jones was sentenced to 188 months in
prison. Houser is scheduled to be
sentenced on September 18, 2018.
Quincy Bryant, the last remaining defendant charged under
the indictment, is scheduled to proceed to trial on October 29, 2018, before
Judge Martinez. An indictment is merely
an accusation. A defendant is presumed
innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
During the trial, evidence was presented, including civilian
and law enforcement witness testimony, that proved how the charged racketeering
enterprise, which used names such as the Dub Side Blood Family (DSBF),
conducted its unlawful business practices and controlled the South Gwen Cherry
Housing Complex in the Allapattah neighborhood of Miami for over seventeen
years. Witness testimony established how the DSBF members routinely robbed
victims at gunpoint and sold narcotics.
The enterprise’s criminal spree included five commercial businesses,
including MetroPCS locations, a Food Plus store, and the armed robberies of
drug dealers.
The evidence at trial showed that the DSBF became so
emboldened that they told a future homicide victim’s own mother that her son
would be killed. The DBSF followed
through on that promise with his subsequent murder. Similarly, trial evidence showed members of
the group celebrated after killing another victim by posting images of the
deceased’s body in a casket. The trial
evidence also included jailhouse phone calls and private messages which
captured DSBF members discussing the operation of their organization and
proposed responses to circumvent law enforcement’s investigation into the
criminal enterprise. Trial evidence
from the defendants’ social media and cellular phone records demonstrated the
group’s ability to continue criminal activity despite periods of time when
members were incarcerated.
U.S. Attorney Benjamin Greenberg said, "Justice has
been served for the residents of Allapattah, with the convictions of members
and associates of a violent criminal enterprise that threatened the public’s
safety". Today’s announcement
leaves no doubt that the lure of gang culture and criminality does not
pay. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our
Violence Reduction Partners stand ready to continue our enforcement efforts, in
order to protect our South Florida communities and combat violent crime.
ATF Special Agent in Charge Ari C. Shapira stated, “I am
pleased by the results of this outstanding investigation worked jointly with
our federal, state and local partners.
It highlights the value of our collaborative effort to reduce violent
crime in our community. Dedicated ATF
Special Agents, Task Force Officers and their partners will relentlessly
continue to help improve those vulnerable neighborhoods plagued by gun
violence.”
“Drugs and the violent gangs that profit from them have a
devastating effect on our communities and we will continue to work with our law
enforcement partners to make South Florida a safer place,” said Scott A.
Rottman, acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami. “The FBI is committed to using every legal
means available, including federal racketeering statutes, to dismantle these
criminal enterprises who plague our society.”
“The dismantlement of this violent organization has allowed
for a major criminal element to be removed from the community of Allapattah,”
stated DEA Special Agent in Charge Adolphus Wright. “The efforts from those
involved illustrates the devotion and success of the Violence Reduction
Partnership which has allowed law enforcement partners at the federal and local
levels to work together to rid communities of the criminal afflictions which
have plagued them for far too long, and to continue efforts to keep these
communities as safe as possible.”
MPD Chief Colina stated, “We are pleased with the outcome of
this joint investigation, and are always available to work with our local and federal partners
to make the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County the safest community in the
nation.”
“The professionalism exhibited during this investigation and
the commitment to work together, solidifies the collaboration between federal
and local law enforcement. The
dedication and efforts of United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern
District of Florida are to be commended.” said Juan J. Perez, MDPD Director.
“The Miami-Dade Police Department is committed to this collaborative endeavor
and will not stop working toward our goal of establishing a safe and secure
environment, free from crime and the fear of crime.”
The investigation of this enterprise was jointly led by the
ATF, FBI, DEA, MPD, and MDPD. Key participants in the investigation included
the MPD’s Narcotics Unit, Gun Squad, Gang Intelligence Detail, Homicide Unit,
and Robbery Unit; the MDPD’s Robbery Bureau, Narcotics Bureau, Homicide Bureau,
and Street Violence Task Force. The investigation was also supported by the
U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homestead Police
Department the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department’s Security
Threat Group Unit, and the South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task
Force to include the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area-Miami-Dade State
Attorney’s Gang Strike Force.
Through the collaborative Violence Reduction Partnership
(VRP), the U.S. Attorney’s Office and its federal and local law enforcement
allies have sought to dismantle the most violent criminal networks that plague
communities throughout the Southern District of Florida. The charges announced
today are the result of the VRP’s law enforcement initiatives. Additional
information regarding the VRP initiatives is available at usafls.vrp@usdoj.gov
(link sends e-mail) (link sends e-mail) or by calling (305) 961-9134.
This case is the result of the ongoing efforts by the
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) a partnership that brings
together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state and
local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is
to identify, disrupt, dismantle and prosecute members of drug trafficking,
weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations and enterprises.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ignacio
J. Vazquez and Ilham Hosseini.
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