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Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro
The indictment, which was announced Thursday, followed what Cannizzaro described as an intense and long-term investigation into the 110’ers gang by the Multi-Agency Gang Unit.
That unit debuted in November with a goal of attacking local gangs that officials believe are responsible for the vast majority of the homicides that have made New Orleans the nation’s murder capital. This is the second indictment connected to the unit announced in the past month.
“The message to these groups is simple: We are coming after you,” Cannizzaro said. “We will not be stopped.”
Although the gang unit is only six months old, the investigation into the 110’ers actually began last summer.
Cannizzaro said his office and the New Orleans Police Department were investigating a number of seemingly isolated incidents of violent crime in the 10th and 11th wards. Once the gang unit was formed and began, it became clear those isolated incidents were actually connected to the 110’ers, Cannizzaro said.
The gang, which primarily operates in the St. Thomas area according to the indictment, might be an umbrella organization of several smaller neighborhood gangs. The indictment alleges the defendants were responsible for not only murder, but armed robbery, the sale of illegal drugs, witness intimidation and obstruction of justice.
Of the 15 murders the defendants are alleged to have committed, the most notorious were those of Briana and Pierce.
Briana was celebrating a relative’s birthday party the evening of May 29 when a group of men got out of a car near the intersection of Simon Bolivar Avenue and Clio Street and unleashed a volley of bullets on the crowd that gathered for the festivities.
Briana was caught in the crossfire and fatally wounded. An image of her father cradling her limp body on a porch rocked the city at the time and sparked community outrage.
Pierce was killed while she drove about two blocks away when a stray bullet pierced her windshield and struck her.
Sam “Lil” Newman, Demond “Lil D” Sandifer, Stanton “Nan Nan” Guillory, and Tyron “T-Man” Harden are named in the indictment as the killers.
Harden was arrested April 22 and booked on two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. According to a warrant for Harden’s arrest, he was a known member of the Young Mafia Fellaz gang and was affiliated with the 110’ers. The warrant said he shot Briana by accident while he fired an AK-47 at a member of a rival gang.
The 110’ers, according to the indictment, used guns to fight rival gangs, including the Get Money Boyz from the 12th Ward and the Young Melph Mafia from the 3rd Ward.
Antonio “Big Rico” Johnson was charged as an accessory after the fact to the murders of Briana and Pierce, according to the indictment.
Meanwhile, Cannizzaro’s office dropped a charge of first-degree murder against Leo Riles, another suspect in the Allen and Pierce killings. Riles surrendered to police shortly after the incident and has since pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. He was not included in the indictment handed up on Wednesday night.
“We have a very solid case,” Cannizzaro said. “We are not concerned about that.”
Others named in the indictment include Rico “Lil Rico” Newman, Eric “E-Slim” Shelbia, Ja’On “Sticks” Jones, Joshua Pittman, Kerry “Jordan” Pittman, Ronald “Remo” Thompson, Charles “Buddy” Lewis, Kevin Calhoun, Charlie “Mac” Brown and Joseph “Doo-Man” Bienemy.
All 15 suspects were charged with a single count of racketeering. Additionally, each defendant was charged with various other crimes ranging from perjury and obstruction of justice to armed robbery and murder.
Jones and Joshua Pittman remained at large Thursday, Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas said.
The indictment claims that members of the 110’ers and others, such as their girlfriends, would cover for one another when authorities investigated them. Members might threaten witnesses or actually commit acts of violence, the indictment said. The indictment also claims that gang members and their associates would use jail telephones to “give directions and advice to each other to circumvent the criminal justice system.” Those conversations were often recorded by authorities.
Serpas said Wednesday’s indictment should send a message to family members and romantic partners who think aiding criminals is acceptable. Officials will pursue charges against those individuals who obstruct justice, he said.
“We guarantee you will be arrested,” Serpas said.
The collaboration among the NOPD, Orleans District Attorney, FBI and U.S. Attorney’s office — just some members of the Multi-Agency Gang Unit — should give the city’s violent criminals something to fear, Mayor Mitch Landrieu said. He reiterated an idea he stressed when the task force was first created — it is a brand new day.
“The rules of engagement in this city as it relates to violent criminals has changed,” Landrieu said. “This group of people is together. We’re focused together, we’re working together.”
Source: theadvocate.com