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Press Release

Melton Sentenced To Life For Kidnapping Case Of Wake Forest Man

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of North Carolina

RALEIGH – The United States Attorney’s Office announced that today, KELVIN MELTON, a/k/a Dizzy, a/k/a Old Man, 51, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever, III, to life plus 84 months consecutive imprisonment.  Judge Dever further recommended that MELTON serve both his federal sentence and the remainder of his North Carolina life sentence at the ADX Super Max Federal Penitentiary in Florence, Colorado in the most secure part of that facility.

On June 21, 2016, MELTON was found guilty in a jury trial of Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping, Attempted Kidnapping and Aiding and Abetting, Kidnapping and Aiding and Abetting, and Using, Carrying, and Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to, and Possessing a Firearm in Furtherance of, a Crime of Violence, that being Kidnapping and Aiding and Abetting.

Frank Janssen was taken from his home against his will on April 5, 2014.  One Eight Trey Blood member MELTON, used a cell phone that he illegally possessed while serving a life sentence in North Carolina’s Polk Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, to transmit instructions to co-conspirators in the plot who then sent threats to Janssen’s wife.  Specifically, MELTON gave instructions on how to kill Mr. Janssen, dispose of his body and sanitize the crime scene.

Through a coordinated effort involving many federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team rescued Mr. Janssen at 11:55 pm on April 9, 2014, at a residence in Southeast Atlanta.

United States Attorney John Stuart Bruce stated, “The federal prosecution of Kelvin Melton is now complete, and justice has been served.  The credit for this successful prosecution goes to the hard-working prosecutors in our office, the dedicated agents of the FBI, and scores of officers from state and local agencies who worked together to rescue the victim and solve the case.”

The case was investigated by the FBI Charlotte, FBI Atlanta, the Wake Forest Police Department, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation with assistance by the Durham County Sheriff’s Office, Raleigh Police Department, Durham Police Department, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, Garner Police Department, North Carolina Highway Patrol, RDU Police, City County Bureau of Investigation, the Cobb County Police Department, Alpharetta Police Department, Atlanta Police Department, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina is handling the prosecution of these cases.

Updated November 10, 2016