Ranking Gang Member Sentenced to More Than 47 Years in Prison for Planned Armed Home Invasions
| U.S. Attorney’s Office June 21, 2013 |
NASHVILLE, TN—Leonard Baugh, a/k/a Hype, age 35, of Nashville, was sentenced to 570 months’ imprisonment (47 ½ years) yesterday by Senior U.S. District Judge John Nixon, following his conviction on April 2, 2013, for a series of offenses involving planned home invasion robberies that he conspired to commit with fellow Rollin’ 60s Crips street gang members by using contraband cellular telephones while serving a state prison sentence at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
“This sentence effectively removes this defendant from our communities for the rest of his life. He victimized multiple people in his 1997 home invasion offense and continued to engage in that same conduct over a dozen years later. Imprisonment in the state prison did not deter him,” stated Acting United States Attorney David Rivera. “This prosecution and lengthy prison sentence demonstrates the resolve of the United States Attorney’s Office to prosecute violent crimes, as well as how seriously the federal courts treat such crimes.”
Baugh, as well as Omega Harris, a/k/a Nino a/k/a Q, were convicted of multiple charges by a federal jury after a five-week trial that focused on Baugh’s use of contraband cellular telephones while serving a state prison sentence at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. According to the proof at trial, both defendants held the rank of “OG” (original gangster)—the highest rank in the Rollin’ 60s Crips street gang—and committed various crimes with other Rollin’ 60s gang members.
Baugh was convicted of conspiring to commit two armed robberies against people he believed to be drug dealers and with possession of firearms in furtherance of those conspiracies. He was responsible for the multiple guns possessed by the co-conspirators who were to carry out the planned home-invasion style robberies. Baugh was also convicted of conspiring to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine as part of a scheme to raise bond money for two female gang members who had been arrested on state prescription fraud drug charges. Baugh was serving a Tennessee state prison sentence at the time of the offenses, and the trial proof showed he routinely used a contraband cell phone while in Tennessee’s highest security prison to arrange robberies and drug offenses, which were to be committed by other Rollin’ 60s gang members.
Harris was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine which was to be taken as part of one of the planned robberies, as well as conspiring to distribute prescription drugs such as Oxycontin.
The proof at trial included evidence that Harris conspired to obtain Oxycontin and other prescription drugs through the use of forged prescriptions, as well as through large-scale distribution of Oxycontin in various Nashville public housing projects. That proof included estimated distribution of thousands of highly addictive and dangerous Oxycontin 80 milligram pills per week.
Harris was also convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, relating to the possession of a folding Kel-Tech Sub 2000 firearm. The proof at trial included tracing that firearm through the hands of over a dozen gang members and associates, including proof that Harris provided that firearm to other gang members for use in other crimes. Harris was acquitted of conspiring to commit various drug-related robberies and the firearms charges related to those conspiracies.
The case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from other federal and local agencies. This trial was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sunny A.M. Koshy and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Mario M. Pinto.