Kansas City street gang members indicted in racketeering, murder schemes
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Three leaders and six members of a group of street gangs in the Kansas City area were indicted by a federal grand jury this week for their roles in an ongoing criminal business.
The business involved armed violence, including murder schemes, drive-by shootings and illegal drug trafficking, according to the Department of Justice.
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The nine gang members have been identified as:
Steven K. Lee,38 also known as “Bizzle” and “SB”
Charles V. Williams, 35, also known as “Cheese” and “Chucky D”
Travis L. Cook, 30, also known as “Trav”
Richard B. Johnson, 24, also known as “Scritch” and “Rich”
Deion D. Alford, 23, also known as “Wommy”
Ewon R. Kelley, 33, also known as “Won”
Myreku L. Frazier, 30, also known as “Rekus”
Anthony D. Hunter, 25, also known as “Dee”
Jacequin Boswell, 30, also known as “Nunu” and “Noodles”
All nine were charged in a six-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City last week. That indictment was unsealed and made public Thursday upon the arrests and initial court appearances of three of the suspects.
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Lee, Williams, Cook, Kelley, and Hunter were all arrested in an operation on Thursday.
Johnson and Alford are already in custody in connection with other charges.
The operation involved more than 140 law enforcement officers from multiple local and federal agencies and searches of 16 residences associated with gang members.
Court records say during the searches and arrests, officers confiscated 27 firearms, two machineguns, 1,069 rounds of ammunition, cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, marijuana, and bulk cash associated with the gangs.
The DOJ says additional seizures are still in the process of being logged into evidence.
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According to the indictment, seven of the suspects—Lee, Johnson, Alford, Kelley, Frazier, Hunter, and Boswell—were members of an organized criminal enterprise, a gang called the Park Side Greasies, which is centered around the intersection of 33rd Street and Park Avenue in Kansas City.
Members of Park Side Greasies allegedly engaged in acts of violence, including murder, conspiracy to murder, armed assault and robbery, and drug trafficking.
According to the indictment, Lee is the leader of Park Side Greasies. Williams leads Click Clack Gang and Cook leads South Benton Gang.
Members of the three gangs maintain regular communication and frequently cooperate for the purpose of illegal drug trafficking and violent crimes, creating a union of gangs known as South Park Click.
The gang alliance was memorialized in a 2013 song entitled “For Da 30’s,” the indictment says, which includes the verse “South Park Click. That’s South Benton, Park, and Click Clack. If somebody got shot, close your mouth – we probably did that. McDonald’s or Wendy’s, we don’t give a (expletive). You won’t move until the paramedics pick you up.”
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The indictment says the gang leaders, members, and associates of the business, promoted a climate of fear in the community through repeated waves of gunfire, assaults, and destruction of property, among other crimes of violence and intimidation, the indictment says.
They used and threatened to use physical violence to suppress challenges from rival criminals and others who threatened the enterprise. They enhanced their reputation for violence by killing, attempting to kill, and otherwise violently confronting people who challenged them.
They enriched themselves, and funded the operations of the criminal enterprise, with the proceeds of illegal drug trafficking, robbery, and burglary, according to the indictment.
The indictment charges all nine of the suspects in one count of participating in a racketeering conspiracy since at least Jan. 1, 2008. They allegedly engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity, including multiple acts and threats of murder, robbery, and drug trafficking as part of the criminal enterprise.
The indictment charges all nine in one count of participating in a drug-trafficking conspiracy since at least Jan. 1, 2008. They allegedly conspired to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, PCP, alprazolam, oxycodone, and marijuana.
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The indictment charges Lee, Johnson, Alford, Kelley, Hunter, and Boswell in one count of participating in a murder conspiracy since at least Dec. 8, 2017, in aid of the racketeering enterprise.
Lee allegedly issued a contract for the murder of a rival gang member. Boswell located and attempted to shoot the victim in the area of 34th Street in Kansas City, but the victim successfully got away.
Hunter shot at the victim on Dec. 30, 2018, reporting to Lee that they had “exchanged metal.” Kelley located the victim on Jan. 1, 2019, but was unable to execute the contract because too many people were around.
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On Jan. 28, 2021, Johnson allegedly fired at multiple vehicles, believing them to be occupied by rivals, causing an injury to an uninvolved person and damaging property.
Johnson is charged with one count of aiding and abetting another person to attempt to murder and to assault another person with a dangerous weapon, a Glock 9mm handgun. Johnson is also charged with one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
