Officials announce charges against 14 alleged Minneapolis gang members: "Our community needs a break from the violence right now"

MINNEAPOLIS -- Authorities on Wednesday announced federal charges against 14 alleged Minneapolis gang members, including two who they say are "high-ranking members of the Minneapolis Lows street gang."

The alleged crimes include firearms violations and fentanyl trafficking. In addition to the Lows, those charged include members of the Highs, Bloods and 10z/20z gangs, authorities said.

"These charges present a chilling picture of the violence inflicted by the Highs, the Lows, the Bloods and other gangs on our city's streets," U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said. "Violent crime levels in Minneapolis have begun to come down and I believe our strategy is playing a role in the reduction, but we still have more work to do, and we will continue to charge violent offenders."

Luger said the charges announced Wednesday are individual charges, not Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act charges as was the case with the 45 alleged gang members charged in May.

"The decision was made to make arrests quickly as these are violent offenders that we wanted to get off the street quickly," Luger said.

Luger said RICO cases are still being built, but they take time.

"Our community needs a break from the violence right now," Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt said. "People who live in every neighborhood deserve their lives to be free from fear."

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said these arrests are part of an overall effort to reduce gun violence in Minneapolis, which, according to him, has been effective. O'Hara said gun violence is "dropping to near pre-pandemic levels."

"We will not allow a small group of violent gang members to continue to terrorize our neighbors," he said.

O'Hara also said that, as part of the MPD restructure announced last week, officers will be permanently assigned to the U.S. Attorney's Office as organized crime liaisons.

"These arrests won't be the last, and the work will continue," O'Hara said.

The 14 charged are:

• Michael Marshawn Dalton, 29 – possession of a firearm as a felon
• Marquez Demar Hill-Turnipseed, 21 – possession of a firearm as a felon, possession of a machine gun
• Shannon Aaron Kapriece Jackson, 31 – possession of a firearm as a felon, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl
• Cartrell Ismail Smith, 27 – possession of a firearm as a felon, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl
• Kaprice Richards, 22 – possession of a firearm as a felon
• Ohagi Charles Walker, 27 – possession of a firearm as a felon
• Clenest Demon Wells Jr., 26 – possession of a firearm as a felon
• Jermaine William Jackson Jr., 26 – possession of a firearm as a felon, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl
• Adrion Kelley, 19 – possession of a firearm as a felon
• Joe Lee Rudolph-Meeks, 28 – possession of a firearm as a felon
• James Edward Hollman Jr., 32 – possession of a firearm as a felon
• Devon Lamont Holt, 33 – possession of a firearm as a felon
• Marvin Miller Jr., 35 – possession of a firearm as a felon, possession of a machine gun
• Dante Joseph Tyus, 29 – possession of a firearm as a felon

All 14 are in custody, authorities said. Luger identified Walker and Shannon Jackson as high-ranking members of the Lows.

Previous gang crackdown

In May, authorities announced charges against 45 alleged members and associates of the Highs and the Bloods, two gangs that operate in north and south Minneapolis, respectively. Authorities said the crackdown was made possible by the RICO Act, which allows federal authorities to prosecute a large number of gang members at once, after first establishing that the gang is part of a sizable criminal enterprise. It was the first time RICO had been used in Minneapolis since the 1970s.

Update (Nov. 17, 2024): Charges against Shannon Jackson and Cartrelle Smith have been dropped. They are facing similar, more recent charges as part of a larger crackdown on violent crime in Minneapolis.