DETROIT – A leader of the Band Crew street gang was sentenced Friday to nearly 20 years in prison for his role in gang-related attempted murders, robberies, and shootings.
An associate of the Band Crew street gang was also sentenced Thursday to nearly seven years in prison for his role in the gang’s criminal activities, officials said.
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Corey Deandre Mapp, known as "Lil Corey," 23, and Mario Perkins, known as "Rio," both of Detroit, were sentenced following guilty pleas to RICO conspiracy, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering and use and carry of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Mapp and Perkins both pleaded guilty in late 2016 before Chief U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood of the Eastern District of Michigan.
"These convictions and sentences are particularly important since Mr. Mapp was a leader of the gang, participated in shootings and encouraged this violence to occur, which included Mr. Perkins' participation in gang-related shootings and violence," said Acting U.S. Attorney Lemisch. "We believe these sentences send a strong message of deterrence to those who may want to pursue the gang lifestyle."
"These sentences are the culmination of countless hours of dedicated work by ATF agents and our law enforcement partners," said Special Agent in Charge Shoemaker. "ATF will continue to aggressively target and dismantle criminal enterprises threatening the safety of Detroit’s citizens."
According to court documents, Band Crew was an association which comprised smaller gangs, including Constantly Making Hundreds (CMH), Young N Crispy (YNC), Pushit (or Pusha) Boy Family (PBF) and Family Over Everything Love is Forever (FOE Life).
Officials said Band Crew operated in northwest Detroit, and the gang’s members claimed the area as their territory by tagging buildings with gang-related graffiti, including markings such as "#22 BandCrew," "BAND CREW," "22 BAND CREW," "YNCMH" and "PBF."
Band Crew members and associates worked to defend their territory, to promote and maintain the status and reputation of the gang and to engage in or threaten violence in retaliation for perceived wrongs, officials said. Band Crew’s specific base of operation in northwest Detroit was in the area in and around Seven Mile Road, with Southfield Freeway to the west, West McNichols Road to the south, Eight Mile Road to the north, and Greenfield Road to the east.
Mapp, Perkins, and their co-defendants were responsible for a multitude of crimes that took place in and around Northwest Detroit, officials said.
Mapp and Perkins, according to plea agreements and court documents, directly participated or encouraged acts of assault with intent to murder, home invasions, aggravated assaults, shootings in public places, drug dealing and robberies.
Mapp’s criminal conduct spanned the duration from Band Crew’s inception until he and his co-defendants were arrested in the fall of 2015.
All defendants charged in the indictment have been convicted. In addition to Mapp and Perkins, six other members, leaders and associates of the Band Crew, all of Detroit, have pleaded guilty to charges related to racketeering, assault a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering or other weapons offenses.
The remaining Band Crew members are scheduled to be sentenced over the next three months.
Here's more information from the United States Attorney's Office:
"A very important component to the federal prosecution was earlier successful state prosecutions by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office of a number of Band Crew members for specific violent state felony offenses that served as a foundation to the federal Racketeering Conspiracy.
"The arrests and convictions in this case are, in part, the result of the Detroit One Initiative, a collaborative effort between law enforcement and the community to reduce homicide and other violent crime in Detroit. Through the lead efforts of the Comprehensive Violence Reduction Partnership Task Force, which consists of representatives of the ATF, Detroit Police Department, Michigan State Police, Michigan Department of Corrections and FBI, law enforcement authorities linked various acts of violence in Detroit to the Band Crew street gang, and identified the leaders and key members of the gang, who now have been held accountable.
"This prosecution was also part of a larger coordinated effort to address ongoing gang violence in Northwest Detroit. During the time of the Band Crew investigation, federal law enforcement and the U.S. Attorney’s Office also investigated, prosecuted, and convicted members of the RTM street gang, chief rival to the Band Crew.
"The ATF and Detroit Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney John N. O’Brien of the Eastern District of Michigan and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy R. Jehangiri of the District of South Dakota prosecuted the case."