Motorcycle Gang Leader Gets 35 Years For Violent Racketeering-related Crimes

DETROIT (WWJ) - A Detroit motorcycle gang leader faces a lengthy prison term for his role in what federal prosecutors call a violent racketeering conspiracy.

Antonio Johnson — also known as Mister Tony, MT and Big Bro — was sentenced to 35 years in prison on federal charges for his involvement in conspiracy to commit murder, shootings, robberies, extortion and the possession and sale of stolen vehicles and motorcycles.

U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade says Johnson, 39, was the National President of the Phantom Outlaw Motorcycle Club — headquartered in Detroit — and "Three-Star General" of the Chicago-based Vice Lords street gang in Michigan.

Johnson and other gang members, prosecutors say, engaged with an escalating war against another gang, starting with violent stealing vests from the rival Hell Lovers Motorcycle Club, and ending with a plot to kill.

"Initially they were going after three members," McQuade told WWJ's Sandra McNeill, "but the plan was, at their funeral, they would go in an attack everyone who came to their funeral. So, it was really a virtual gang war."

The AFT and FBI intervened before the deadly plot was carried out, McQuade said.

Johnson was convicted on March 16 after a multi-week trial.

Along with him, 12 others have been convicted in connection with the case. Five of them still await sentencing.

McQuade said these busts are in part thanks to the Detroit One Initiative, a collaborative effort between law enforcement and the community to reduce homicide and other violent crime in Detroit.

"Gang wars fuel violence in our community, and the resulting drive-by shootings create unacceptable risk to innocent lives," said McQuade. "The Detroit One partners are systematically dismantling violent street and motorcycle gangs that are destroying the peace in our neighborhoods."

The program is led by a "Comprehensive Violence Reduction Partnership Task Force," which consists of representatives of the ATF, Detroit Police Department, Michigan State Police, Michigan Department of Corrections and the FBI.

"Through his leadership positions in two gangs, Johnson spread violence in Detroit and beyond," said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell, in a statement.

"Here, through the Detroit One initiative, the collective efforts of federal agents, state and local police, and private citizens helped thwart a mass murder plot and ensure the convictions and lengthy prison sentences of Johnson and his fellow gang members.  This case is emblematic of law and order at its best: a true partnership between law enforcement authorities and the community they serve."