NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – A federal grand jury in Nashville returned a 40-count indictment yesterday, charging 11 members of the Gangster Disciples with conspiring to participate in a racketeering enterprise.
Their crimes included multiple murders, including the murder of a witness; a drug distribution conspiracy; and multiple other crimes of violence in aid of racketeering as well as firearms and drug crimes.
Earlier today, federal, state and local law enforcement officers orchestrated a coordinated takedown resulting in numerous arrests in Tennessee, Kentucky and Florida and the execution of several search warrants in the Clarksville and Murfreesboro areas of Tennessee, where many of the defendants reside.
The indictment sets forth a series of on-going allegations of gang related activities including organizational meetings and crime planning activities, violent assaults, murder, drug distribution and firearms offenses from 2005 until present.
According to the indictment, the defendants conspired to participate in the affairs of the Gangster Disciples, a violent criminal gang founded in Chicago and now active in numerous states across the United States, including Tennessee. The indictment says Gangster Disciples are highly organized, operating under the national leadership of a corporate board-style group, who is responsible for decisions for the gang at a national level, and the state and regional leadership of “governors” and other subordinate gang members, who are responsible for the gang’s activities in specific geographic regions.
As set forth in the indictment, in middle Tennessee, the Gangster Disciples generally recruited members from a local neighborhood or from within jail or prison.
Among other crimes, the indictment alleges that on Jan. 6, 2012, Gangster Disciples member Brandon Durell Hardison, 31, of Madison, Tenn., murdered a Gangster Disciples associate. That same date, Hardison also murdered the associate’s girlfriend, who was a witness to the murder, then enlisted other Gangster Disciples members to dispose of the murder weapon, according to the allegations. The indictment alleges that Hardison committed these murders for the purpose of maintaining and increasing his position in the Gangster Disciples.
Gangster Disciples members were also responsible for attacks on rival gangs, according to the allegations. For example, the indictment alleges that on Nov. 3, 2012, Hardison, Maurice Duncan Burks, 31, of Hopkinsville, Ky.; Marcus Termaine Darden, 38, of Guthrie, Ky.; and Xavier Raphael Jenkins, 29, of Clarksville, Tenn., plotted to assault members of the Bloods gang. Thereafter, according to the allegations, Hardison and Jenkins assaulted, and Burks shot and killed, a member of the Bloods gang inside a nightclub in Clarksville, Tenn.
Additionally, the indictment alleges that in August 2014, Lamar Andre Warfield, 28, of Guthrie, Ky.; Derrick Lamar Kilgore, 32, of Clarksville, Tenn.; and Lawrence Mitchell, 33, of Clarksville, Tenn.; conspired to murder members of the rival Vice Lords gang resulting in the shooting of four individuals in Clarksville, Tenn. The indictment also alleges that in a separate crime in December 2014, DeCarlos Titington, 41, of Clarksville, Tenn., shot at and attempted to murder two Vice Lords gang members. Both Vice Lords shootings were for the purpose of maintaining and increasing the defendants’ position in the Gangster Disciples, according to the allegations.
The indictment also names Darden, Burks, Warfield, Kilgore, Lucas, Titington, Mitchell, Brown, as well as Rex Andrew Whitlock, 32, of Clarksville, Tenn., in the drug distribution conspiracy.
In addition to the RICO and drug distribution conspiracies, the indictment charges Hardison with two counts of murder in aid of racketeering, related firearms crimes, and witness tampering, and Burks with murder in aid of racketeering and related firearms crimes. Warfield, Kilgore, Mitchell and Titington are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder and assault in aid of racketeering, and related firearms charges, which stem from shootings of rival gang members. Darden, Kilgore, Brown and Titington are also charged with drug distribution offenses.
The indictment also contains forfeiture allegations. The government seeks to forfeit any proceeds and property, including but not limited to a money judgment, representing all or part of the gross proceeds obtained as a result of the alleged crimes.
If convicted, these defendants face maximum sentences ranging from 10 years to life in prison. Burks and Hardison potentially face imposition of the death penalty.
An indictment is merely an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Several TN and KY police agencies were present for the announcement from Jack Smith, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee and Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.