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10 Most Dangerous Housing Projects In Chicago (Chiraq) Online Menu of Cobras & Matadors, Los Angeles, CA During the mid 1950s the Egyptian Cobras fought heavily with a gang called the 14th Street Clovers. U.s. Accuses 19 Gang Members of Narcotics Conspiracy As to the quantity of drugs Hankton should be held responsible for, it was the government's position that, pursuant to U.S.S.G. 28: "There will be no getting hi or drinking on the line." And rule No.. This increased the pressure on law enforcement to go after the gang. Last summer, Hilbring recalled, officers seized an instruction list that a West Side gang was passing out to its drug customers. In this case the jury was confronted with conversations which contained code words that, when considered in isolation, might seem unclear, veiled and almost nonsensical, but when analyzed properly, in the context of the totality of the evidence, can clearly be seen to be code words for drugs It is true that, advisedly, no explicit mention was ever made of cocaine or other drugs in any of Vega's conversations with the Zambranas. Allowing an illegal sentence to stand would constitute a miscarriage of justice, see White, 406 F.3d at 835-36. The record reflects that Davis, during intercepted phone conversations, repeatedly referred to people on the street selling drugs as his workers. See supra p. 13. 841(a)(1). Among the co-defendants were Woodrow Green, Jammah Olden, Rasuah Brunner, Ngaya Brunner, Timeka Murdock and Mekeba Gates, many of whom were also members of the MCs and all of whom also entered into plea agreements with the government. The Latin King Gangs - 1535 Words | 123 Help Me name some mickey cobra sets, whos they opps and allies and - reddit In October 1999, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began investigating the MCs, utilizing confidential informants,4 FBI surveillance and pen registers to gain information on the organization.5 Information gathered in the initial operational phase of the investigation allowed law enforcement officers to gain a preliminary understanding of the gang's structure. All customers entering the building must be searched. In other words, Davis must present this court with more than conclusory allegations that a government witness is unreliable; he must present evidence which would in some way rebut that testimony or demonstrate that it is inaccurate and should not have been relied upon by the sentencing judge. As Olden explained, Hankton would supply him with crack-essentially on credit-and then collect the proceeds from the sale of the crack from him at a later time. Both in Prison and in the street gangs in CA. June 16, 1993)). 2. The regular Mickey Cobras sets are definitely under the 5 (People Nation . Indeed, it would be antithetical to consider these to be mutually exclusive endeavors. Contact us. Reversal will be warranted only if, after reviewing the entire evidence, we are left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made. United States v. Sheikh, 367 F.3d 683, 687 (7th Cir.2004) (quoting United States v. Frazier, 213 F.3d 409, 417 (7th Cir.2000)). The indictment also alleged that the defendants participated in various other drug-related crimes arising out of their membership in, and affiliation with, the Mickey Cobras (MCs) street gang, which operated on the north-side of Chicago, Illinois during the 1980s and 1990s.2. Furthermore, Agent Darin also testified as to Davis' role as a manager/supervisor in the MCs drug operations. Although they very well could have been considered. We disagree. See, e.g., United States v. Von Loh, 417 F.3d 710, 712 (7th Cir.2005). 28: "There will be no getting hi or drinking on the line. a. Mickey Cobras - Wikipedia The gang is considered very mobile, and its colors are green, black, and red. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial judge concluded that based on the plea agreements and testimony given at sentencing, Hankton could have reasonably foreseen that the amount of [crack cocaine] he was dealing was well in excess of 500 grams, and could reach even beyond 1.5 kilograms. Indeed, the District Judge determined that the recorded [Title III] calls alone take the amount well beyond the 500-gram minimum.20 Moreover, citing the live testimony and the physical evidence confiscated from Hankton's residence (such as correspondence identifying Hankton as King), the court found that [Hankton] [was] one of several organizers and one of several leaders within [the] structured criminal organization and that he exercised control and power over other members of the gang and felt a four level leadership enhancement to Hankton's sentence was warranted pursuant to U.S.S.G. "The loyalty is to the dollar," said Sgt. Instead, all of the evidence presented-as well as commonsense-suggest that, in fact, Hankton's gang activities were intimately, related to and intertwined with, his drug distribution activities. Thus, [s]o long as the information which the sentencing judge considers has sufficient indicia of reliability to support its probable accuracy, the information may properly be taken into account in passing sentence. United States v. Robinson, 164 F.3d 1068, 1070 (7th Cir.1999) (quoting United States v. Taylor, 72 F.3d 533, 543 (7th Cir.1995)). See United States v. Sutton, 406 F.3d 472, 474 (7th Cir.2005) (citing United States v. Benitez, 92 F.3d 528, 538 (7th Cir.1996)). Among its demands: exact change, no cutting in line and no $1 bills. As this court has stated numerous times [t]he law is very clear that a sentencing judge may appropriately conduct an inquiry broad in scope, largely unlimited either as to the kind of information he may consider, or the source from which it may come. A corollary to this general principle is the rule that a sentencing judge may consider relevant information without regard to the rules of evidence provided that the information has [a] sufficient indicia of reliability to support its probable accuracy. United States v. Lemmons, 230 F.3d 263, 267 (7th Cir.2000) (quoting U.S.S.G. On appeal, both Hankton and Davis argue that their respective sentences should be vacated as unconstitutional under the Sixth Amendment citing the district judge's belief that application of the guidelines was mandatory as well as the judge's subsequent enhancement of their sentences on facts which were neither proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt nor admitted by the appellants. The District Court's Determination of Hankton's Drug Quantity. When the amounts of crack cocaine that the co-defendants admitted Hankton distributed to them were tallied, the government estimated that the amount of crack Hankton distributed (as established in the plea agreement documents alone) to be 1166 grams. They don't want the heat. 843(b) and 18 U.S.C. Davis pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and admitted that on June 27, 2000, he obtained approximately 250 grams of powder cocaine from Hankton, with the intention of distributing it to others.22 Nonetheless, the government argued at sentencing that Davis was responsible for the possession of more than just the 250 grams of powder cocaine that he admitted to in the plea agreement. 1781, 152 L.Ed.2d 860 (2002). Nonetheless, Hankton argues that the sentencing judge's mention of his leadership role in the organization while finding that he was also eligible for a sentence enhancement for distributing more than 500 grams of cocaine under 2D1.1 constituted impermissible double counting. Hankton responds that [i]t's guaranteed. Agent Darin testified that butter was a common code word for cocaine and that the two were actually discussing the future sale of either crack or powder cocaine. In one conversation with a MCs associate, for example, Hankton is asked whether he got that butter?. Put simply, a district court may not characterize the same conduct in two different ways to arrive at two separate sentence enhancements that result in an upward adjustment of the sentencing range. See, e.g., United States v. Hardamon, 188 F.3d 843, 849 (7th Cir.1999). The gang long has controlled the area of the Hole, though most of the other buildings in Robert Taylor are the turf of their rival, the Gangster Disciples. One memo from "the chairman and the board of directors" and dated July 23, 1983, addresses an important gang edict: Don't talk to law enforcement interrogators. Gangs and Organized Crime - Google Books Indeed, the district court's imposition of a sentence in the middle of the range for Hankton, see supra p. 13, and at the lower-end of the range for Davis, see supra p. 16, may be an indication that, having been vested with greater discretion, the judge may well have imposed a sentence lighter than that required by the guidelines. The statements did suggest that the original order to issue Williams a beating may have emanated from, or been approved by, a higher authority in the gang; however, A and B agree that the order to beat Williams came to them directly from Hankton. The five-point star banner's collective name for joined gangs. 8,000 to 10,000 that lives in the United States of America. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005) and United States v. Paladino, 401 F.3d 471 (7th Cir.2005). Davis also argues that the sentencing court erred by admitting unreliable hearsay evidence when determining that he possessed with intent to distribute 50 to 150 grams of cocaine under U.S.S.G. The wiretaps also provided the FBI with further insight into Hankton and Davis' respective leadership roles in the MCs as well as more specific information on the hierarchal structure of the organization. "If there's no rules, no one knows what's going on. Hardamon, 188 F.3d at 849-50 (quoting United States v. Gerstein, 104 F.3d 973, 978 (7th Cir.1997)). Los Angeles, California Employment Laws Overview - The National Law Review 11. Said differently, Hankton takes issue with the sentencing judge's focus on his leadership conduct which he claims is unrelated to the underlying crime of distribution of a controlled substance. In other words, we may correct such an error only if it is intolerable, or results in a miscarriage of justice. See Paladino, 401 F.3d at 481. Subtracting 3 points for Hankton's acceptance of responsibility, see U.S.S.G. According to Olden's testimony, which was unrebutted at sentencing, it was reasonable for the district court to conclude that Hankton personally distributed between 134 and 1071 grams of crack cocaine, to Olden alone, in the space of just these five months.26 See Salinas, 62 F.3d at 859; see also United States v. Durham, 211 F.3d 437, 444 (7th Cir.2000) (stating that estimates of drug quantity are acceptable if they are based on evidence possessing a sufficient indicia of reliability and not nebulous eyeballing). 3. Andrew Martin and Tribune Staff Writer. "And they really do have elaborate procedures.". See id. Finally, the rules make clear that anyone who violates them will be dragged before the gang's "board" and punished. The National Law Review - National Law Forum LLC 3 Grant Square #141 Hinsdale, IL 60521 Telephone (708) 357-3317 or toll free (877) 357-3317. 3E1.1, the government recommended that Hankton's requisite offense level should be 37 and that, due to the fact his criminal history category was at level III, the appropriate sentencing range was 262 to 327 months. See U.S.S.G. Bell pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 40 years in prison, while the other two enforcers--Jamaine Jackson and Carl Williams--were convicted at trial and given 60-year prison terms each, according to Assistant State's Atty. 1820, 40 L.Ed.2d 341 (1974). Also, Hankton and Davis were each charged with additional counts; Hankton was charged with knowingly and intentionally distributing over 150 grams of crack cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. Spanish Cobras - Wikipedia As this court held in United States v. Torres-Ramirez, credible corroborating testimony is sufficient to provide hearsay evidence, such as the plea agreements and the statements therein, with an indicia of reliability and satisfies the defendant's entitlement to have his sentence determined based on reliable evidence. 841(a)(1). A pen register is usually installed at a central telephone facility [and] records on a paper tape all numbers dialed from [the] line to which it is attached. Finally, Hankton and Davis request that we order a limited remand to determine whether the district court would have imposed a different sentence had it known that the Sentencing Guidelines were merely advisory. The rules state that one gang member on "security" patrols the front door of the building, while the other mans the back door. Also, the reliability of the plea agreements-as well as Agent Darin's testimony for that matter-was bolstered by the fact that, at sentencing, Hankton took advantage of a reasonable opportunity to rebut the hearsay evidence used against him. United States v. Barnes, 117 F.3d 328, 338 (7th Cir.1997) (quoting United States v. Francis, 39 F.3d 803, 810 (7th Cir.1994)). 2. 14 for the Mickey Cobras is "There will be no more paying brothers and sisters to do your security." Rule No. In fact, both Agent Darin and Jammah Olden testified that the gang's sole source of revenues was from the sale of illegal drugs. 53rd and state was the most notorious MC set but of course they're long gone. 8. (T. 1981, 1993). Following the arrests, on July 3, 2001, Hankton and Davis, along with six9 other individuals, were indicted inter alia on drug conspiracy and drug possession charges.10 As discussed infra, Hankton and Davis entered into separate plea agreements with the government and each of them admitted facts sufficient to establish criminal liability beyond a reasonable doubt. However, a case was made, which was more than strong enough to convince the jury, that Vega used terms like chickens, roosters and it as code words for drugs. What's more, Hankton's role as leader and organizer is rather persuasively illustrated by the fact that he had the power within the MCs organization to order the brutal beating and murder of one of the gang's members, Annette Williams. ", Rule No. A central theme to the Mickey Cobras' rules is respect for the drug customer. During the investigation, the FBI temporarily used a member of the MCs to serve as a cooperating witness. In accordance with Rule 11(c)(1)(C) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure Hankton pled guilty to three counts of distribution of crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. "The leaders of street gangs should understand we know who they are, we know how to catch them and we're going to continue to be coming after them," Lassar told reporters. However, unlike Hankton, Davis does not claim that Agent Darin's testimony was unreliable. The trial judge concluded that Davis' base offense level was 32 along with five criminal history points, meaning that the appropriate sentencing range to be applied was 210 to 262 months. Limit bathroom breaks to 15 minutes. . Only if a defendant shows that the information before the court was inaccurate, and that the court relied on it can the defendant successfully challenge his sentence. United States v. Smith, 3 F.3d 1088, 1099 (quoting United States v. Johnson, 997 F.2d 248, 254 (7th Cir. See id. The founder of the Egyptian Cobras was James Cogwell. For example, in her plea agreement, Ngaya Brunner admits purchasing three eight-balls of crack cocaine from Davis, which translates into approximately 10 and one-half grams.25 The prosecution concluded that, when the plea-agreements were considered in relation to Agent Darin's testimony that Davis was a seasoned cook of cocaine, the reasonable inference was that Davis was responsible for possessing with the intent to distribute 50 to 150 grams of cocaine. The government estimated that, based on Agent Darin's testimony and the wiretap evidence alone, Hankton was responsible for distributing approximately 456 grams of crack cocaine.16, Agent Darin also testified concerning Hankton's ascension from the role of don, the title he held in the mid-1990s, to King, the title he held from 1999 to 2001. In order to honor Mickey, they changed their name to Mickey Cobras. The wiretap was granted pursuant to Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Street Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. The fact that Williams' murder appeared to involve a dispute over drug money, as opposed to drugs, would not preclude the sentencing judge from inferring that the incident was related to the MCs drug activities or from concluding that Hankton exerted the same authority over the gang's drug activities as he did over ordering beatings or murder. At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the number one source of free legal information and resources on the web. Smith was best friends with defendant's brother. However, even where a plain error is found to exist, a court of appeals may exercise its discretion to notice a forfeited error only if the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings. United States v. Cotton, 535 U.S. 625, 631, 122 S.Ct. They changed their name to Cobra Stones in the late 1960s. R. Evid. Indeed, the plea agreements were more than sufficiently corroborated at Hankton's sentencing hearing by the credible testimony of the live witnesses, i.e., Agent Darin and Detective Charles. 7. A and B's statements also unequivocally acknowledge that the order to beat or issue a violation to Williams-which resulted in her death-was issued by Hankton personally.13 They also related that the violation or beating was ordered because Williams had stolen some money from the gang. The gang has distributed narcotics since the late 1960s . Chicago Police Detective Kenneth Charles, one of the officers charged with investigating Williams' murder and a court recognized expert on the MCs, related information that he uncovered which led him to believe that Hankton had ordered the beating that resulted in Williams' death. See United States v. Torres-Ramirez, 213 F.3d 978, 980-81 (7th Cir.2000) Under circumstances such as these we are unwilling to find fault with the sentencing judge's decision to credit Darin's statement in determining the drug quantity attributable to Hankton. After their leader, Mickey Cogwell, was gunned down in front of his South Side home in 1977, the gang adopted the name Mickey Cobras in honor of him. View Menu. While in the gang, he achieved the rank of a 'prince.' He identified defendant in court as someone he had known for 20 years. 6A1.3); see also United States v. Hardamon, 188 F.3d 843, 849 (7th Cir.1999) (stating that during the sentencing phase of a criminal proceeding the rules of evidence do not apply and the sentencing judge is free to consider a wide range of evidence including hearsay.). While it may be true that the sentencing judge primarily focused on Hankton's gang activities, there was good reason for doing so. 2518(1)(b) & (c). We disagree. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. As the district court concluded, given the entirety of the government's submission, [Agent Darin's testimony] is reliable evidence and should be given substantial weight by the court [i]t is corroborated [i]t all ties together. But a Chicago Housing Authority sergeant who works in the Robert Taylor Homes said despite the sophistication of the drug trade, rules and bylaws created by imprisoned gang leaders are routinely violated on the street. The BPSN and MCN nations later went to war after the cobras blamed jeff fort for the hit. 19. 841(a)(1) (Count VI). Bearing upon this was testimony given by a number of prosecution witnesses who confirmed Hankton's involvement in the murder of Annette Williams, a fellow member of the MCs, in April of 2004. The rationale for this is clear: The sentencing stage of a trial is one of the most important parts of the criminal process. The rules, chock-full of mispellings and street slang, aren't contained in a tidy corporate packet or posted on a store bulletin board. The indictment also alleged that the defendants participated in various other drug-related crimes arising out of their membership in, and affiliation with, the "Mickey Cobras" ("MCs") street gang, which operated on the north-side of Chicago, Illinois during the 1980s and 1990s. For example, although the judge recognized that Hankton was not the sole and only leader of the organization, he did exercise control [and] power [t]he telephone calls clearly establish that [t]hey show his concern for the organization itself, its image. In addition, the court referenced evidence presented by the government which illustrated Hankton's role in the murder of Annette Williams, see supra pp. In another conversation, Darin described a conversation between Hankton and co-defendant Jammah Olden, where Olden requests that Hankton supply him with: About a half. Darin testified that, a half, as used in that particular context, referred to one half-ounce of crack cocaine. (T. 1993, 2223, 3194). Reported as permanently closed. The Mickey Cobras now have their written constitution and by-laws, which, like the modern-day BPSN, have a strong Islamic influence. Another defendant was already incarcerated in Cook County Jail on unrelated charges. at 980. 8-9; see also U.S.S.G. In 2006, multiple people died from overdose when a strengthened variant of heroin made its way into the houses. 2D1.1. Thus, because witness testimony-the testimony of a witness, Agent Darin, whom the district judge had previously determined to be credible-was introduced to corroborate information contained in the co-defendant's plea agreements and thus infused that evidence with an indicia of reliability. See United States v. Martinez, 289 F.3d at 1028-29; Torres-Ramirez, 213 F.3d at 980. 3B1.1(a) of the Guidelines.21 The district judge, after hearing and weighing the totality of the evidence, sentenced Hankton to 300 months imprisonment, which fell in the middle of the applicable guidelines range of 262 to 327 months. Because neither Hankton nor Davis raised a Booker issue before the district court our review is for plain error only. 29. On the record before us, we cannot ascertain with any exacting degree of certainty whether the sentencing judge would have imposed identical sentences for Hankton and Davis had he known that the sentencing guidelines were not mandatory at the time. Improper and impermissible double counting only occurs when a district court imposes two or more upward adjustments within the guideline range, when both are premised on the same conduct. U.S. v. Haines, 32 F.3d 290, 293 (7th Cir.1994) (emphasis in original). Five others remain fugitives. The co-defendants' plea agreements submitted at Davis' sentencing demonstrated that Davis was in the habit of distributing crack cocaine. The evidence presented at sentencing did not separate Hankton's activities into two distinct categories of: (1) gang activities; and (2) drug activities. 14 for the Mickey Cobras is "There will be no more paying brothers and sisters to do your security. Rule No. 3E1.1. Introduced were the plea agreements of Davis, Woodrow Green, Jammah Olden, Rasuah Brunner, Ngaya Brunner, Timeka Murdock and Mekeba Gates. Matt Brandon of the CHA tactical unit. And no sitting down or horsing around while on duty. The gang's various criminal undertakings were coordinated through a hierarchical-type infrastructure and included, but were not limited to, the possession and distribution of powder cocaine and cocaine base (better known as crack).3. As part of the plea agreement, Hankton admitted that on three separate occasions in Cook County, Illinois, between February and April 2000, he distributed a total of approximately 156 grams of crack to an individual who, unbeknownst to him, was a confidential informant recruited by the FBI. Rather, the "House Rules" for the Mickey Cobras street gang are handwritten on five pages of plain paper and were found by police stuffed in the pockets of several members who accused of selling crack cocaine. Officials said the Mickey Cobras include as many as 1,500 members and control the area around the Cabrini-Green public-housing complex. Thus, because Agent Darin's credible testimony corroborated the information contained in the co-defendants' plea agreements, the sentencing court did not err in finding that evidence reliable in concluding that Davis was responsible for possessing with the intent to distribute 50 to 150 grams of crack cocaine.27, B.Hankton's Leadership Role in the Offense. He joined in 1978 when he was eight years old and left the gang in 1996. To support the proposed guidelines enhancements, the government presented evidence detailing Hankton's role as a leader or organizer within the MCs organization. Nonetheless, [a] defendant has the due process right to be sentenced on the basis of accurate information. United States v. Salinas, 62 F.3d 855, 859 (7th Cir.1995) (citing United States v. Mustread, 42 F.3d 1097, 1101 (7th Cir.1994)). See Sutton, 406 F.3d at 474. Gang investigators over the years also have confiscated edicts from imprisoned gang leader Larry Hoover, the "chairman" of the state's largest street gang, the Gangster Disciples, Knox said. Thf 44 is also very deep and they also rep cobra heavily. Brandon said the Mickey Cobras' rules "is just some attempt by the hierarchy to keep some sort of order. See Salinas, 62 F.3d at 859. In determining reliability we consider the totality of the evidence before the sentencing judge, United States v. Span, 170 F.3d 798, 803 (7th Cir.1999), but a sentencing determination may be premised on any basis supported by the record. ", "They look at the buildings as their retail drugstore," said George Knox, a criminal justice professor at Chicago State University who has studied Chicago street gangs. The authors have spent decades investigating gangs as well as researching their history and activities, and . [1] The disparate nature of behavior addressed under each enhancement, without more, suggests that impermissible double counting pursuant to those particular enhancements would be most unlikely.
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