Feds charge 11 in 6 Mile Chedda Grove

Eleven members of a Detroit Street gang called 6 Mile Chedda Grove were indicted on racketeering and murder charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.

Prosecutors allege 6 Mile Chedda Grove committed homicides, assaults, robberies and traffics in firearms and drugs on Detroit’s east side, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. All told, 11 alleged members face charges. Four of them were arrested within the last two days. Ten of the 11 men live locally; one lives in Tennessee.

All 11 face racketeering charges at a minimum. Two of them, Detroiters Mario Jackson, 23, and Michael Richardson, 28, appeared in federal court Tuesday. Both will return Thursday for detention hearings.

Members of the gang allegedly “sell and distribute controlled substances” — including cocaine, crack, heroin, marijuana and Lean, a concoction of codeine, Sprite soda and Jolly Rancher candy, that creates euphoric feeling — in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and West Virginia, the U.S. Attorney’s complaint said. The gang fights some rivals and collaborates with others, and is accused of maintaining “hit lists” that are posted on social media. The gang is accused of racketeering activities and committing murder to protect the revenues of that racketeering in a conspiracy that allegedly began “no later than 2008.”

The indictment draws heavily on social media to make its case, citing videos that members allegedly posted on YouTube and even the captions of photos uploaded to Facebook.

The alleged incidents described in the complaint span several years and several states, and range from drug possession to homicides, in which phrases such as “premeditated” and “lying in wait” are used.

U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade hailed the indictments as the work of “Detroit One” a collaboration of federal, state and local agencies to disrupt violent crimes by way of “enforcement operations” and “interventions” such as the “Ceasefire” program, during which people believed to be involved in crime are brought in and given options to get onto a productive path, and warned about the consequences that may come if they don’t change. McQuade pointed to a 35 percent drop in shootings in Detroit’s 9th precinct, where 6 Mile Chedda Grove operates and an area bounded by McNichols to the north, Houston-Whittier to the south, Kelly to the east and Chalmers to the west, as proof of the program’s viability.

“The Detroit One partnership is rooted in the belief that all citizens and neighborhoods deserve to be free of crime,” said Detroit Police Chief James Craig in a statement. “The people of Detroit deserve a safe city in which they may thrive.”

The 11 men facing charges are:

■Mario Leico “Ugg” Jackson, 23, Detroit (racketeering conspiracy)

■Phillip Glen-Earl “Peezy” Peaks, 28, Detroit (racketeering conspiracy)

■Michael “Mikey Made” Richardson, 28, Detroit (racketeering conspiracy, felon in possession of a gun; possession with intent to distribute heroin; possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crime)

■Devontae Aaron “Tae” Russell, 23, Knoxville, Tennessee. (racketeering conspiracy)

■Edwin Lamont “Ed Boy” Mills, 26, Detroit (racketeering conspiracy, two counts of murder in aid of racketeering; two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering; two counts of using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence causing death)

■Carlo Dajuan “Los” Wilson, 23, Warren (racketeering conspiracy, two counts of murder in aid of racketeering; two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering; two counts of using and carrying a firearm during a violent crime causing death)

■Donell Christopher “Dnell” Thompson, 26, Detroit (racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering and using and carrying a firearm during a violent crime causing death)

■Lomnil Bookies “Lomo” Jackson, 23, Detroit (racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, and using and carrying a firearm during a violent crime causing death)

■Patrick Jeffrey “Cane” Johnson, 22, Detroit (racketeering conspiracy)

■Corey Alexander Mills, 22, Detroit (racketeering conspiracy)

■Robert Wayne “R.B.” Baytops, 41, Detroit (racketeering conspiracy, felon in possession of firearms)

Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan