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MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Seven members of a south Minneapolis gang were indicted on Tuesday for violent drug trafficking conspiracy and crimes related to a multi-year gang war with their rivals, including a shooting at Hennepin County Medical Center in August of 2014.
The defendants were active members of two closely associated street gangs known as the 10z and the 20z. The gangs operated in South Minneapolis, primarily between Franklin Avenue, and Lake Street, and I-35W and Minnehaha Avenue.
Their primary purpose was to make money for the gang members through the sale of illegal drugs, including crack cocaine, heroin, and marijuana.
“They are charged with conspiracy to possess firearms in the furtherance of a drug trafficking conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute heroin and crack cocaine, and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said in a press release Tuesday.
As part of their drug trafficking operation, members of the gangs routinely engaged in gun violence with rival gangs such as the Bloods and the Bogus Boys.
According to Luger, the “purpose” of this violence was to protect drug dealing territory controlled by the 10z and 20z, to protect individual drug distributors from rival gang violence, to attack and seize drug dealing territory controlled by rival gangs, and to attack and rob drug distributors associated with rival gangs.
"Today's indictment marks the sixth violent street gang that this office has indicted since 2014," Luger said. "Street gangs trafficking heroin and other drugs in Minnesota are engaged in violence against one another and endangering the communities in which innocent civilians live and work.”
According to documents, the defendants were involved in at least five shootings between August 19, 2014, and September 23, 2014. Members of the gang also staged a coordinated attack on members of the Bloods while they were at Hennepin County Medical Center visiting an injured member of their gang, who had been shot earlier that day by members of the 10z during a drive-by shooting.
The indictment is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Minneapolis Police Department.
Defendants
Daniel Adams, aka "Funk," 29, of Minneapolis, Minn.
Andrew Peterson, aka "Boo Boo," 25, of St. Louis Park, Minn.
Percy Lacey Jr., aka "P3," 22, of Richfield, Minn.
Anthony Doss, aka "Two Tone," aka "Tony," 24, of Brooklyn Park, Minn.
Thomas Bennett, aka "Deandre Clay," aka "Trigga," 27, of Minneapolis, Minn.
Paul Early, aka "Stamps," aka "Man Man," 23, of Minneapolis, Minn.
Clarence Dickens, JR., aka "Claro," aka, "Sneaky," 24 of Roseville, Minn.