Fifteen members and associates of the Sin City Deciples, a Gary-based motorcycle club, have been charged in a superseding indictment with a racketeering conspiracy as well as a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. A sixteenth individual has been charged in a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
The 57-page superseding indictment reads like a television drama, weaving a tale of influence, obedience, intimidation, an internal power struggle, drugs, guns and murder spanning multiple states. and including local, regional and national chapters of the Sin City Deciples.
Gary Police Chief Brian Evans confirmed the city has been involved in a joint operation with the federal government but declined to comment further on the investigation. He said the arrests were significant for the city.
“Anytime offenders can be taken off the street the city it makes the city safer,” Evans said.
An initial indictment alleged two of those charged, Ronnie Ervin “Black” Major, 51, and Antoine Jermell “Twan” Gates, 44, both from Gary, engaged in a murder for hire and used a firearm relating to the Dec. 19, 2010 murder of Jocelyn “Pie Face” Blair.
Major and Gates were indicted July 22 by a federal grand jury in connection with the fatal shooting of Blair on Dec. 19, 2010, inside Coney Island Restaurant, 2490 Broadway, Gary.
Both Major and Gates faced charges in Blair’s death in Lake Superior Court filed in December 2016, which were dismissed in the wake of the federal charges. Major and Gates remain charged with these crimes.
Blair was an eyewitness to a 2008 shooting in Gary for which Major was later convicted of battery and sentenced to six years, according to court documents. Blair never testified at Major’s 2011 trial because she was killed months before.
The club’s leadership ran the group with an iron fist, enforcing a strict code of respect and obedience, where offenders could be disciplined with beatings and death, according to court documents. The documents outline how the Sin City Deciples would intimidate other motorcycle clubs into become their support clubs, extorting dues and support.
This superseding indictment was announced by Clifford D. Johnson, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, and Kristen de Tineo, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
These charges are part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multiagency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks, a release said.
The agencies involved in the investigation are: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the East Chicago Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Gary Police Department, the Griffith Police Department, the Hammond Police Department, the Internal Revenue Service, the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, Lake County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area officers and agents, the Merrillville Police Department, the Munster Police Department, and the Schererville Police Department. The Lake County Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Northern District of Illinois, Southern District of Indiana, Western District of Kentucky, and Western District of Pennsylvania also provided assistance.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David J. Nozick, Michael J. Toth, and Thomas R. Mahoney.
Facing charges:
The 15 men charged with racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances according to the indictment are:
Ronnie Ervin Major a/k/a “Black,” 51, of Gary,
Antoine Jermell Gates a/k/a “Twan,” 44, of Gary
Kenneth Christopher McGhee a/k/a “Sonny” and “Angel,” 72, of Merrillville
Michael Castro Rivera a/k/a “Puerto Rican Mike,” 64, of Gary
Douglas Sherman Blowers a/k/a “Profit,” 41, of Lake Station
Daniel Richard Spanley a/k/a “Tattoo,” 42, of Hobart
Roger Lee Ervin Burton a/k/a “Bo,” 52, of East Chicago
James Ulrich Richardson a/k/a “Little Rick,” 52, of Crown Point
Richard White a/k/a “Ignorant Bastard,” 54, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
Brandon Romand Parks a/k/a “Baywatch,” 43, of Chicago
Herman Troy Jefferson a/k/a “G-Rilla,” 49, of Jacksonville, Arkansas
David Lagrant Guy a/k/a “Fly Guy,” 51, of Merrillville
Jessie Donald Willis a/k/a “Chip,” 57, of Portage
Marvie D. Gardner a/k/a “Widowmaker,” 51, of Louisville, Kentucky
Bernard Smith, a/k/a “Flirt” and “Preacher,” 59, of Gary
Spanley is also charged with distribution of cocaine and possessing a firearm as a felon.
The superseding indictment also charges Gregory Patrick Weldon a/k/a “Sugar Bear,” 53, of Hobart in the conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, in addition to charging him with distribution of cocaine.
Source: US Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Indiana
Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
