LOCAL (long) - N.O. gang halted
kathleen
I haven't even been lurking, have been
working my a-- off, but thought the following
might be of interest.
Of particular interest to me is that our
former chief of police, Ortigue, claimed
that there were no gangs in the city. Chief
Pennington, who's been here about five years,
said at the outset he was going to go after
gangs.
THANKS, ATF AND NOPD!!! And thanks to Judge
Alarcon for setting bond at $1 million for
each of these bad guys.
Kathleen
From the Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Friday,
7/24/98
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N.O. gang's reign of terror is halted
16 are indicted in 8 slayings, deadly revenge
by Pamela Coyle and Walt Philbin, staff
writers
A violent drug gang dubbed the 7th Ward
Soldiers terrorized New Orleans for four
years, killing at least eight people and
trying to kill six others, including several
witnesses, according to indictments issued
Thursday.
An Orleans Parish grand jury indicted 16
suspects under a rarely used statute that
makes membership in a criminal gang a
separate crime and enhances penalties for
crimes committed as part of a gang. It is
the first such indictment in New Orleans.
The victims included two brothers and their
cousin, two people sprayed with dozens of
bullets because gang members thought they
were informants, and a woman gunned down in
April while riding her bicycle.
One of the attempted-murder cases involved a
murder-for-hire scheme, police and
prosecutors said. One man was fired at twice
in the same day by different groups of people
from the same gang.
"You can't exaggerate how dangerous a gang
like this was insofar as retaliation and the
killing of witnesses goes," Police
Superintendent Richard Pennington said.
"... We're going to continue eradicating
gangs from the city of New Orleans."
Pennington said the police investigation was
begun by Sgt. Addie Fanguy with help from the
federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms, which traced bullet casings fired
by gang members "back into their hands."
"This group was treacherous," Fanguy said.
"If any one of them went to jail, the others
would try to find a way to threaten witnesses
or otherwise get them out. At one point,
they put a $100,000 contract out on one of
our informants."
He described the gang, also known as the 7th
Ward Posse, as close-knit. Their drug trade
dealt with powder and crack cocaine and some
heroin, authorities said.
"Most of them grew up together. They went
after people that got them mad, people that
tried to infiltrate their area to sell drugs,
people who were witnesses to their killings,
"Fanguy said. "Nobody wanted to testify
against them."
Among the suspects is Clifford Baptiste, 26,
who was considered one of the city's most
wanted men until his capture in January 1997
after he jumped three stories in an effort to
elude federal authorities.
Indicted as members of a gang were Baptiste;
Brian A. Jones, 20; Garion McCoy, 22;
Marcellus Esteves, 21; Adonis Thompkins, 21;
Leshawn Parker, 20; Percy Franklin, 26;
Robert Neyland, 26; Keith Cyres, 25; Keilon
Barnes, 20; Rico Schexnayder, 24; Jernard
Lewis, 23; Troy Carney, 22; Trevor Williams,
22; Christopher Frank, 19; and Irvin
Edgerson, 28.
All but seven of the suspects were in custody
on charges linked to Thursday's indictments
or to unrelated crims. Warrants were issued
for the seven suspects.
According to the indictments, members of the
gang killed Michael Enclarde on Jan. 6, 1994;
Joseph Enclarde on Feb. 22, 1996; Terrence
Green on June 11, 1996; Philip Enclarde on
July 12, 1996; Albert Dortez on April 15,
1997; Ann Marie Fields and Joseph Larks on
Feb. 17, 1998; and Fatima Walters on April
30, 1998.
The members also tried to kill Lashara
El-Amin, Dale Womack, Mitch Enclarde, Earl
Charles, Troy Harris and Henry Jefferson
between January 1994 and December 1997, the
indictments said.
"They killed Joseph Larks and Ann Fields on
North Dorgenois Street, blew their heads off
because they suspected them, wrongly, of
being informants," Fanguy said. "Lashara
El-Amin was a witness to one of their
killings, and her testimony put one of them
in jail. So they shot her, leaving her
paralyzed. But we put her in the hospital
under an assumed name, and they couldn't get
at her."
They did the "next best thing," Fanguy said,
and killed Fatima Walters, her sister, to
send a message to the family.
"I've been a police officer for 25 years, and
this is the most violent gang I have ever
encountered," he said.
"It was the worst thing I've ever seen," said
the mother of El-Amin and Walters, who asked
that her name not be used. "With Fatima, it
was overkill. They probably killed her with
the first shot in the head, but they kept
shooting.
"I will never feel safe in this neighborhood
again," she said. "We still have to try and
get out."
Citing the "enormity of the crimes and
violence," prosecutor Karen Herman asked for
bonds of $1 milion on each suspects, and
Judge Terry Alarcon agreed. After Alarcon
read the indictments into the record, Herman
asked if he wanted information on the
suspects' extensive criminal backgrounds.
"I don't know," Alarcon quipped. "Do we have
the time?"
When the grand jury foreman indicated the
panel wanted to hear the information, Herman
rattled off the suspects' lengthy records.
Among the records: Jones, four felony
arrests; Baptists, 15 felony arrests; Parker,
16 felony arrests; Esteves, 8 felony arrests;
McCoy, 23 felony arrests; Neyland, 8 felony
arrests.
The ongoing investigation is being doncuted
by Fanguy, Herman, Sgt. Archie Kaufman and
two ATF agents, Sue Pecora and Mike Hutton.
Two years ago, ATF agents started comparing
gun pellets from several killings to see if
there was a connection between them, said
Fanguy, who was conducting a similar
investigation. The group has worked together
for the past seven months, he said.
The grand jury issued a 16-count indictment.
All of those named are charged with gang
activity. Some also are charged with murder
and others are charged with attempted murder.
Jones, whom Fanguy described as the
ringleader, and Baptiste were charged with
the most crimes.
Jones was charled with two counts of
second-degree murder and five counts of
attempted murder. Baptiste was charged with
four counts of second-degree murder and four
counts of attempted murder. [end of article]
Staff writer Petula Dvorak contributed to
this story.