Detroit: November 29 2018 – The Detroit One collaboration of local, state, and federal law enforcement has led to the convictions of two members of a Detroit street gang known as “Bandgang” for attempted murder in aid of racketeering, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider.
Joining in the announcement was Timothy R. Slater, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Martez Bailey, 24, of Detroit, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson. Bailey’s plea agreement calls for a sentence of 25 to 30 years in prison. Bailey’s co-defendant, and fellow Bandgang member, Khalil Wilson, 25, previously pleaded guilty for his role in the drive-by shooting. Wilson’s plea agreement also calls for a sentence of 25 to 30 years in prison.
According to court records, Bailey and Wilson were both part of Bandgang, a local street gang on the west side of Detroit. On June 21, 2016, Bailey and Wilson drove to Biltmore Street in Detroit and fired repeatedly into a house, hoping to kill two rival gang members. Bailey fired a .45 caliber handgun repeatedly while Wilson unloaded an Uzi with an extended magazine capable of holding 50 rounds. A woman in the house unrelated to the gangs was severely injured in the shooting. The attempted murder stemmed from a dispute with two rival gangs, Trust No One (TNO) and Too Much Cash (TMC), prompted, in large part, by jealously over credit card fraud, as well as an earlier shooting by Bandgang members in February 2016 that left a five-year-old girl permanently disabled.
“This type of credit card fraud and identity theft is actually a deadly crime, because gangs are using extreme violence to protect their illegal income,” United States Attorney Matthew Schneider said. “But if gangs in Michigan think they will get off easy, they are wrong – several gang members have been sentenced to a decade or more in prison for credit card fraud.”
This case is the latest in the FBI Violent Gang Task Force’s investigation into Bandgang. In total, twenty-four members and associates of the gang have been charged in sixteen different cases and have received sentences ranging from 36 to 154 months on charges related to attempted murder, credit card fraud, identity theft, firearm offenses, and obstruction of justice. Four different credit card labs have been seized from Bandgang members during the investigation (not counting individual skimmers and embossers), and over 15,000 stolen credit card accounts have been linked to Bandgang members.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Shane Cralle and Terrence Haugabook.
Source: FBI