17 indicted in US, state crackdown on Lynn gang
Seventeen members and associates of a gang that allegedly terrorized the city of Lynn with drive-by shootings, home invasions, and witness intimidation were indicted yesterday on federal and state drug trafficking and gun charges that could put some of them behind bars for life, according to law enforcement officials.
Members of the Deuce Boyz and Soldiers street gang allegedly threatened to shoot a Lynn police officer for targeting them and were involved in a gang war that is believed to be responsible for 11 shootings in just two weeks in January, four shootings in February, and a homicide two years ago, according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court.
"We will not allow a handful of criminals to disrupt the lives and neighborhoods of this community," US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan said yesterday during a press conference.
He announced that 16 suspects had been arrested by the FBI's North Shore Safe Street Gang Task Force and that one was still being sought last night.
The 12 men indicted in federal court face sentences ranging from a minimum mandatory 10 years in prison to life if convicted, depending on their past criminal history, according to Sullivan.
All 12 are charged with conspiracy to sell crack cocaine, and some face heroin distribution and weapons charges, as well.
Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett, whose office is prosecuting four of the men and one juvenile on a variety of charges, said the crackdown on escalating gang violence was meant to send the message: "If you choose a gang life, you have no life. Only one of two things will happen. Either you go to jail, or you die."
During the seven-month probe, task force members routinely video taped meetings in which witnesses who were cooperating with authorities purchased drugs and guns from members and associates of the Deuce Boyz/Soldiers gang, according to the FBI affidavit.
While a March 1 meeting was being videotaped, two reputed gang members, Christopher Gutierrez and Nelson Sanchez, climbed into the back seat of a van on the pretext of selling two handguns and crack cocaine to two witnesses seated in the front, but pointed loaded guns at their heads and robbed them of cash, jewelry, and a cellphone, the affidavit says.
Investigators moved in immediately, arresting Gutierrez and Sanchez on state robbery charges, then later that day arrested the man who had allegedly orchestrated the robbery, Donald Oliver, 22, of Lynn, a reputed leader of the Deuce Boyz/Soldiers who was awaiting trial on earlier drug charges, according to the affidavit.
All three of them, who had been jailed since March, were among those indicted yesterday on federal drug charges.
The FBI affidavit says the Deuce Boyz and the Soldiers, which operate in the Lynn area and inside the Middlesex County correctional facilities, were separate gangs that merged in recent years and have been involved in a variety of crimes, which include auto theft, witness intimidation, assault, and vandalism.
Though they haven't been charged with murder, the FBI affidavit identifies reputed gang members Sanchez, Oliver, Orlando Vales, and Troy Platt as suspects in the Feb. 9, 2005, killing of July Grateraux, a Salem teenager who was shot to death in a basement apartment in Lynn.
The affidavit also says the gang aligned itself with the local affiliate of the Bloods, one of the country's most notorious street gangs, in a violent war with the rival Crips over drug turf.
On March 13, a defense lawyer at Lynn District Court advised law enforcement officials that she overheard a group of Deuce Boyz threatening to shoot Lynn Police Lieutenant Peter Holey "because of his efforts to disrupt the gang," according to the FBI affidavit.
Most of those who appeared in federal court yesterday didn't have lawyers yet, and all were ordered held without bail pending a hearing on whether they should remain jailed until their cases are resolved.
George Gormley, who represents Manuel Bisono, 28, of Salem, who is charged with selling crack, said, "He's pled not guilty, and he looks forward to his day in court."
