Crips Gangster Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison after Being Convicted in Racketeering and Crack Cocaine Conspiracies

          LOS ANGELES – A member of the Five Deuce Broadway Gangster Crips (BGC) – who was found guilty by a jury last year of conspiring to engage in racketeering activities, which included him selling crack cocaine on Skid Row – has been sentenced to 360 months in federal prison.

          Tony Gordon, also known as “Wodi,” 36, of Freeport, Illinois, who has a lengthy criminal history that includes three prior felony narcotics convictions, was sentenced yesterday by United States District Judge S. James Otero.

          Gordon was convicted late last year of conspiring to violate the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Members of conspiracy engaged in murders, robberies, witness and informant intimidation, and narcotics sales. The jury further convicted Gordon of agreeing to distribute approximately 10 ounces of crack cocaine, as well as marijuana.

          Gordon “was also a long time crack cocaine seller who preyed on the most vulnerable of the most vulnerable,” prosecutors wrote in sentencing papers filed with the court. Gordon “purposely traveled from his own neighborhood to infiltrate the Skid Row area of downtown, despite its own dangers, where, as established at trial, defendant sold directly adjacent to substance abuse recovery centers and mental health centers. Defendant purposefully and thoughtfully capitalized on these individuals’ most debilitating vice.”

          During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence of Gordon’s membership in BGC and in the “Gremlin Riderz,” the gang’s violent “hit squad.” The jury saw videos of Gordon at gang meetings providing guidance on how the gang should operate, at one point bragging that he solved problems “the best way I can” – through “violence.” Other videos showed Gordon describing shooting at gang rivals, recounting a home invasion robbery, and discussing how to discipline gang “snitches.”

          During yesterday’s sentencing hearing, Judge Otero noted that Gordon continued to come to court in a wheelchair despite no evidence of a disability and a jail video showing Gordon engaging in a fistfight with another inmate. Judge Otero concluded that Gordon committed perjury when he testified about his fabricated medical condition.

          Gordon’s sentencing follows a hearing last month when BGC’s leader – Tyrine Martinez, 36, of Vernon – was sentenced to nearly 22 years in federal prison. Other BGC members have recently received substantial prison sentences.

          Gordon, Martinez and other key defendants in the case who have been sentenced agreed to be banned from living in the BGC territory and subject to expansive search conditions after their release from prison.

          Martinez was the lead defendant named in a 213-page RICO indictment that charged 72 members and associates 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. The indictment outlined two decades of criminal conduct, including murders, robberies, extortion, illegal firearms possession, witness intimidation and narcotics trafficking. Fifty-seven of the defendants in the case have been convicted by guilty plea or at trial. The remaining 15 defendants are scheduled to go on trial in November.

          The investigation into BGC 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 and Wilson Park of the Violent and Organized Crime Section.