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Press Release

Broadway Crips Gangster Convicted of Narcotics Offenses and Implicated in Two Murders Sentenced to 35 Years in Federal Prison

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California

          LOS ANGELES – A prominent member of the Five Deuce Broadway Gangster Crips (BGC) – who was found guilty by a jury last year of three counts of distribution of crack cocaine, which included him selling crack cocaine near schools – has been sentenced to 35 years in federal prison.

          Marquis Shaw, also known as “Tiny Looney,” 43, of South Los Angeles, was sentenced Wednesday afternoon by United States District Judge S. James Otero after a nearly three-hour sentencing hearing.

          Following a four-week jury trial in March, Shaw was convicted of three drug trafficking offenses. Shaw had previously been convicted of felony narcotics offenses in two prior cases, as well as voluntary manslaughter, assault with a firearm, assault with a deadly weapon, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

          Two other defendants also were convicted in relation to the trial earlier this year. Joshua Perez, aka “Tiny Ange,” 26, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty during the trial to racketeering and drug trafficking conspiracy charges and admitted participating in a murder that Shaw supervised. Anthony Ingram, aka “Big Toon,” 55, of Los Angeles, was also convicted of drug charges.

          Although the jury did not convict Shaw of racketeering charges, Judge Otero at Wednesday’s sentencing hearing determined that the evidence presented at trial established that Shaw was responsible for two slayings. Judge Otero said that Shaw was one of the most sophisticated and culpable defendants in the BGC criminal enterprise, and that Shaw posed “a clear and continuing danger to the community.”

          The evidence presented at trial earlier this year showed that Shaw and other gang members murdered a man on Sunset Boulevard in 2003 after a concert at the House of Blues. According to the testimony at trial, Shaw was driving one of two cars that surrounded the victims’ car and sprayed it with bullets from both sides. The driver of that car, Luis Roaches, who was not a gang member, died after being shot in the head and chest; another passenger was injured. Following the shooting, Shaw led police on a high-speed chase through West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, during which he tossed what was later determined to be one of the murder weapons. Shaw later pleaded guilty in state court to voluntary manslaughter in this shooting.

          Additionally, evidence presented at trial showed that Shaw participated in and supervised another BGC shooting attack in 2012. Several BGC members, including Perez, traveled into rival gang territory near the Hyde Park District of Los Angeles and fired a barrage of more than 40 bullets into a crowd of people walking into a rival gang’s party. William Sherman, who was not a member of that rival gang, was killed, and two others were injured. When Perez pleaded guilty, he admitted his participation in Sherman’s murder.

          Shaw was one of 72 defendants named in a 2014 RICO indictment that described the criminal activities of the BGC, a street gang that claims territory in South Los Angeles and controls drug sales in an area just west of Skid Row in Downtown Los Angeles. The indictment outlined two decades of criminal conduct, including murders, robberies, extortion, illegal firearms possession, witness intimidation and narcotics trafficking.

          The investigation into the BGC was called Operation “Gremlin Riderz” because authorities focused on a particularly violent “clique” – or subset of the gang. During his trial, Shaw was also identified as a member of this hit squad, which was known as the “Gremlins.”

          All 72 defendants charged in the case have been convicted by guilty plea or at trial. All but six of the defendants have been sentenced, with the lengthiest prison term, prior to Shaw’s sentence, being 30 years. The remaining defendants, including Perez, are due to be sentenced in the coming months.

          The multi-year investigation into the BGC, known as Operation Gremlin Riderz, was conducted by agents and officers with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Los Angeles Police Department. Considerable assistance was provided during this investigation by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Torrance Police Department, the Buena Park Police Department, the El Segundo Police Department, the San Bernardino Police Department and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.

          This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mack Jenkins, Chief of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, and Assistant United States Attorneys Max Shiner, Wilson Park and Aron Ketchel of the Violent and Organized Crime Section.

Contact

Thom Mrozek
Spokesperson/Public Affairs Officer
United States Attorney’s Office
Central District of California (Los Angeles)
213-894-6947

Updated October 25, 2018

Press Release Number: 18-174