'Worst perpetrators of violent crime': Final Chad Brown gang member pleads guilty

PROVIDENCE — A 32-year-old man on Tuesday admitted his involvement in drive-by shootings and drug-dealing as a member of the Chad Brown street gang that plagued the city with violence for years.

Keishon Johnson of Providence was the last of five members of the gang that goes by Chad Brown Posse, Chad Brown Cutthroats and Chad Brown Killers, among other names, to admit to participating in racketeering conspiracy as an associate of the violent street gang linked to the housing complex in the City’s North End.

Johnson pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. to an overarching charge of participating in a Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization, a charge traditionally reserved for the Mafia.

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Under the plea agreement, federal prosecutors in June agreed to recommend that Johnson serve 10 to 12 years in prison. The government dismissed multiple firearms and other charges in exchange for Johnson’s admissions.

Johnson — a self-admitted Chad Brown member who has the gang’s logo Cutthroats tattooed on his back with the language “death before dishonor”— could have faced up to 20 years if convicted on the RICO count alone.

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In pleading guilty, Johnson joined his brother Kendrick Johnson, 30, cousin Montrel Johnson, 25 and Delacey Andrade, 28, in admitting to targeting rivals in the deadly dispute and selling drugs to pay for their enterprise. The plea agreements entered in federal court over the past two weeks came as jury selection in their trial was set to start March 8.

According to prosecutors, the men engaged in acts of revenge, shared weapons and cars and celebrated their violence and gang allegiance in social media posts and through text messages chronicling their crimes.

“There is no higher priority for this office and this department than combating violent crime and gun violence in our communities,” U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha said in a statement. “This case demonstrates that we, working hand-in-glove with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners, will bring every resource at our disposal — including the sweep and impact of a RICO prosecution, to bring the sources of violence in our communities to justice. These convictions are a testament to that cooperation — particularly the work of the Providence Police Department, ATF and the Rhode Island Office of Attorney General, and a victory for public safety.”

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State Attorney General Peter F. Neronha credited investigators with using digital technology comparing spent shell casings to connect a firearm recovered in the probe to six additional shootings, two of which the defendants were charged with.

“Thanks to this investigation and prosecution, some of the worst perpetrators of violent crime in Providence will now find themselves behind bars — and for a long time,” Neronha said

“I commend the entire team of patrol officers, investigators and prosecutors for their relentless work regarding this case. This incredible investigation leading to criminal charges and convictions sends a very clear message to individuals who continue to be involved in violent criminal activity within this city that they will be relentlessly pursued by the Providence Police and our law enforcement partners,” said Providence Police Chief Hugh T. Clements Jr.

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Clements vowed to use every resource available in pursuit of justice and to put a stop to senseless gun violence and retaliation.

“We will continue to target this violent criminal activity, as evidenced by the high volume of firearms we continue to seize, with no jurisdictional boundaries,” he said.

What crimes in Providence were the gang members connected to?

According to court documents, the Chad Brown gang and its associates long targeted their East Side rivals.

The hostilities escalated in June 2013 when a Chad Brown member, Jose “Hova” Sanchez, was shot to death, and in retaliation, two East Side members, Ryan “Moondo” Almeida and Nelson “Vamp” Sanchez, were killed, Assistant U.S. Attorney John McAdams told the court.

The defendants were not charged in federal court with those killings, but that violence marked the start of the time period implicated in the RICO case.

McAdams detailed Tuesday a drive-by shooting involving Andrade and Montrel and Keishon Johnson in October 2016 after East Side rival Ryan DaCruz labeled Kendrick and Delacey “snitches” in a Facebook message that featured secret grand jury testimony.

That incident came two years after 22-year-old Chad Brown member Terry “Trap” Robinson was shot to death outside the Chad Brown housing complex minutes after attending an arraignment in state court in another murder case. Andrade was shot in the buttocks, but Kendrick Johnson escaped injury.

Four members of the East Side gang — also known as the East Side Mafia and East Side Killers — were charged in Robinson’s shooting.

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According to McAdams, Andrade, Keishon Johnson and Montrel Johnson shot at DaCruz outside Walmart on Charles Street, seriously injuring him in retaliation with three gunshot wounds to his abdomen and back

McAdams referenced the 2016 trial into Robinson's shooting death. Andrade and Kendrick Johnson were subpoenaed as witnesses at trial against one of the killers, Bruce Moten. Andrade never took the stand. Kendrick Johnson — Robinson's good friend — told jurors that he couldn’t remember the incident, but thought the shooter was a very tall, white Providence police officer, prompting Robinson's family to storm from the courtroom.

McAdams detailed, too, prison phone calls in which Keishon instructed his associates to sell marijuana while he was behind bars. Federal prosecutors accused Kendrick Johnson and Andrade of engaging in illegal drug and liquor sales, including dealing cocaine and marijuana.

Andrade, authorities said, also directed associates in prison phone calls to track down guns that had been tossed using code names for the weapons. Federal prosecutors told the court that ATF agents used Andrade's instructions to locate two guns that were used in drive-by shootings, McAdams said.

McConnell asked Keishon Johnson, who was represented by Michael Fontaine, if he agreed to the facts laid out by McAdams.

"Yeah, I admit" to it, Johnson said.

McConnell urged Johnson, who is being held at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility, to get a COVID vaccination.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Chad Brown gang member pleads guilty in racketeering conspiracy case