Those who failed to follow through would be expelled and assaulted. The charges outline how prospective recruits are ordered to prove their loyalty by "putting in work," which prosecutors say involves carrying out violent crimes for the gang or helping procure drugs or weapons. Five others are charged with separate gun and drug crimes. The indictment charging the Highs, which has largely done business on the North Side of Minneapolis since 2008, accuses 20 members of a RICO conspiracy linked to five murders between April and September 2021, 10 attempted murders, robbery and drug trafficking. Luger billed the indictments as the "first wave" of an ongoing operation, and hinted at future charges involving the other major gang in Minneapolis: the Lows on the North Side.
Luger said that those charged engaged in a "brutal and unrelenting trail of violence" spanning multiple years, with membership of the gangs swelling since the 2020 onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unrest that followed George Floyd's murder. Of the 45 defendants - linked either to the Highs or the Bloods gangs - 30 are charged across two indictments and 15 other members are being charged in separate documents with drug and gun crimes. "We are now addressing gang violence for what it is: Organized criminal activity." Attorney Andrew Luger said Wednesday, as two indictments were unsealed. "Today's announcement marks a fundamental change for federal law enforcement," U.S.
The statute - also referred to as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) - was first rolled out in the 1970s to bring down organized crime families and requires approval from the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.
Federal prosecutors have charged 45 people they accuse of belonging to two of Minneapolis' most prominent street gangs with complex conspiracy charges in what law enforcement leaders are billing as a major shift in the government's year-old initiative to counter violent crime in the city.įor the first time, prosecutors are levying racketeering conspiracy charges to go after Minneapolis gangs linked to allegations of murder, robbery, drug conspiracy and gun crimes.
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