MINNEAPOLIS (KFGO-WCCO) — A jury found three men charged in connection with a federal crackdown involving dozens of members or associates of two major gangs in Minneapolis.
Christopher Washington, 31, and Ronnell Lockhart, 40, were both convicted Friday of one racketeer influenced corrupt organization (RICO) conspiracy charge each and one count each of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Ernest Ketter, 32, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, but a jury said he was not guilty on a RICO charge.
One defendant, Jarrett Robinson, was acquitted of one RICO conspiracy charge.
The four men were among 45 charged in 2023 as part of a widespread initiative to address crime in the city — the first time RICO had been used in Minneapolis since the law was established in the 1970s.
Indictments allege the dozens of members charged participated in a “brutal and unrelenting trail of violence over the course of years.” Twenty shootings and seven murders are outlined in the indictments in incidents that go back seven years, according to then-U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger.
The incidents include a 2020 shootout and murder at the 200 Club in north Minneapolis and an April 2022 murder outside of William’s Pub in Uptown.
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