Accused Erie gang leader hoped to live with family pending trial. He will stay in prison

The 30-year-old Erie resident who the U.S. Attorney's Office said held the "de facto leadership position" in the Erie street gang 4-Nation will stay in prison as he awaits prosecution on federal racketeering and drug-trafficking charges.

A judge has denied the request of the defendant, Davante Q. Jones, known as Smoov, to be released from prison and placed under house arrest.

"This is a large drug-trafficking conspiracy," U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter said in a three-page order in which she denied Jones' release following a court hearing on Thursday. "The weight of the evidence against Mr. Jones is strong."

Jones is the lead defendant of the 58 people charged in the 4-Nation case in an indictment issued on May 30 and unsealed nine days later. It is the largest-ever criminal case prosecuted in federal court in Erie and the first in which the U.S. Attorney's Office brought charges in Erie under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, the federal law used to target the mob and other organized crime operations.

The first 22 defendants in the case are accused of being members of 4-Nation. The 22 are each charged with a RICO count — on allegations that the gang was a criminal enterprise that distributed illegal drugs and engaged in other crimes — and a charge that they conspired to traffic in cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl and other drugs for the past 10 years.

The other 36 defendants are accused of conspiring to traffic in illegal drugs, with some of those defendants connected to the 4-Nation defendants. Some of the defendants are also accused of weapons offenses.

As part of the probe, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies seized 19.2 pounds of methamphetamine; 180,018 fentanyl pills; 5.22 kilograms of cocaine, or about 11.5 pounds; 4.9 kilograms of fentanyl powder, or about 11 pounds; 709.5 grams of fentanyl-related drugs, or about 25 ounces; several pounds of marijuana, 33 guns and $235,151 in cash.

Jones held the "de facto leadership position" in 4-Nation, the prosecutor, Paul Sellers, an assistant U.S. attorney, said at the hearing before Baxter on Thursday.

Jones first ordered detained in Florida

Jones has pleaded not guilty. He faces a maximum sentence of life if convicted.

He has been incarcerated since early June, when the indictment was unsealed and he was arrested in Tampa, Florida, where he and his family were living at time. He was later transferred to the Erie area.

A federal magistrate judge in Tampa ordered Jones detained in prison following a hearing after his arrest.

The magistrate judge cited Jones's conviction for being behind the wheel in a drive-by shooting in Erie in 2016, and the allegation in the current case that he violated the RICO law by participating in "a criminal gang," according to a transcript of the Florida hearing. The magistrate judge, Sean P. Flynn, also said Jones was a flight risk because he had lived in Florida for only four months.

Jones' lawyer, Michael Waltman, of Pittsburgh, asked Baxter to revoke Flynn's detention order and release Jones from prison on an electronic monitor or house arrest. Sellers, the prosecutor, urged Baxter to keep Jones incarcerated.

Jones' wife becomes a focus of hearing on detention

The two sides traded arguments at Thursday's hearing, which lasted an hour. Sellers and Waltman called no witnesses.

If released, Jones would live in Erie with his wife, Minela Krso, 29, and their two children, 5 and 7, Waltman said. He said the family had been living in a condominium they built in Florida, but Krso and the children moved back to Erie after Jones was arrested.

Krso works as an insurance agent, Waltman said. When the couple was living in Florida, he said, Jones "was primarily a stay-at-home father." Waltman also described Jones as a "music artist" who makes rap videos and who would like to be able to work if he were released from prison.

"I think that is good for him," Waltman said of allowing Jones to work if he were freed pending trial. "I think that is good for society. I think that will allow him to build his trade."

Sellers countered that the evidence against Jones was plentiful. He cited wiretapped cellphone conversations in which the FBI said other defendants could be heard talking about Jones in the context of drug deals and other illegal activity.

Jones, Sellers said, used "the 4-Nation enterprise to accomplish his drug-distribution activities," and he said 4-Nation "reaped destruction in Erie."

Sellers also said Jones remained a flight risk, and questioned the ability of Krso to monitor her husband's behavior if he were released from prison. Sellers said Krso can be seen on a video of her and Jones' wedding, in May 2021, flashing 4-Nation gang signs with Jones' friends and others. The video was posted online.

Baxter agreed with Sellers regarding Krso.

"Ms. Krso has been associated with Defendant for a number of years, even prior to marriage, demonstrating an awareness of his activities, or if not, demonstrating an inability to keep appropriate tabs on him, if released," Baxter said in her order, which she issued several hours after the hearing.

She concluded that "no conditions or combination of conditions" will ensure "the safety of the community or the appearance of" Jones at future court proceedings if he were released.

At the hearing, Krso, Jones' parents and a number of other relatives sat in the gallery to show their support. Jones smiled at them as he entered the courtroom in an orange prison jumpsuit and handcuffs. They called out words of encouragement to him as he left the courtroom, still in handcuffs.

"We love you, bro," one of the relatives said.

"Keep your head up," said another.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Accused leader of Erie gang 4-Nation loses bid to get out of prison