Three convicted in 2020 Des Moines gang shootings get lengthy federal prison terms
The sentences imposed on three Des Moines gang members didn't just reflect on their particular crimes, prosecutor Kristin Herrera said in court. They were a statement to anyone involved in gangs in central Iowa.
"The crimes here were much larger than one shooting. The heart of the case is about gang activity," Herrera told U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger at the Aug. 19 hearing. "Gang activity inflicts multi-layered harm upon society."
A jury found Raekwon Patton, Austin Mallory and Yuri Green Jr. guilty of racketeering and other offenses in connection with the Only The Brothers gang, or OTB. Their April trial centered on three shootings in May and December 2020, although jurors also heard evidence the gang was involved in drug trafficking, witness intimidation and other crimes.
Previously: Jury finds three guilty of attempted murder in string of 2020 gang-related shootings
Patton, 24, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Mallory, 21, got 13 years, while Green, 22, was sentenced to 34 years.
Prosecutors said Mallory was the driver in a May 10 drive-by shooting while Patton and Braden Shafer, then 18, fired at a rival gang member. Shafer was seriously injured by incoming gunfire, and hours later, Green sought retribution, shooting at another vehicle he wrongly believed contained rival gang members. Green also was charged in a separate shooting that occurred Dec. 16, 2020.
The shootings and related criminal activity, along with social media postings demonstrating OTB were meant to bring the defendants prestige in the gang, prosecutors contended at trial. Herrera returned to that theme at sentencing, telling Ebinger that the penalties need to establish an effective deterrent to future would-be gang members.
"It's not just about the seriousness of the crime, it's about the very real need to protect the community," she said.
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Prosecutors had requested sentences of more than 27 years for Patton, 20 for Mallory and 44 1/2 years for Green, according to court filings.
The sentencings came after Ebinger rejected motions from all three seeking to set aside the guilty verdicts against them. In her Aug. 18 order, she found that "overwhelming evidence" supported the verdicts. Citing evidence from trial, she rejected arguments from Patton that he was shot at first and returned fire, and from Green that he was not actually an OTB member.
Mallory argued in his motion that he was not aware when he drove the group to the first May 10, 2020, shooting that his companions were armed and intended violence. While Mallory himself may not have been an OTB member, Ebinger wrote, he knew his companions were, and knowingly assisted the others in their gang-related attempted murder.
The sentencings follow those of three other OTB associates charged in the case, who pleaded guilty before trial. Shafer, who suffered a head wound in the May 10 shooting, was sentenced in January to more than 31 years in prison.
Jordan Wilkerson, 30, was sentenced May 30 to nearly 7 years, while Fabrece Turner, 24, was sentenced in June to almost 14 years. Officials said Turner and Wilkerson were in the car for the second May 10 shooting.
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The six were ordered to spend nearly 125 years combined in federal prison. Several also face prison terms on related state charges, parts of which must run consecutive to their federal sentences.
In addition to the six defendants in this case, eight other members of OTB or its parent gang, Heavy Hittas, have prison sentences dating from December 2020, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.
"Prosecuting violent crime remains one of our highest priorities. These multiple instances of aggravated gang related shootings in residential areas created a grave risk to the public," U.S. Attorney Richard Westphal said in the statement. "Through the hard work of the Des Moines Police Department and our U.S. Attorney’s Office trial team, we were able to hold these individuals accountable, and these significant sentences reflect the seriousness of these crimes and our common interest in community safety.”
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Three Des Moines men sentenced for 2020 gang-related shootings
