Ninth Member of Playboy Bloods Street Gang Convicted on Federal Racketeering, Murder, and Drug Charges

LAS VEGAS—Following a month-long jury trial, Jacorey Taylor, aka “Mo-B,” 30, a member of the Playboy Bloods street gang, was convicted today of a racketeering conspiracy charge, murder in aid of the racketeering enterprise, use of a firearm during a crime of violence, conspiracy to distribute over 280 grams of crack cocaine, and two counts of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine for conduct that included the retaliation murder of a man in November 2004, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada and Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

Taylor was convicted of one count of engaging in a RICO conspiracy, one count of violent crime in aid of racketeering activity, one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence, one count of participating in a drug conspiracy, and two counts of possession of crack cocaine with the intent to distribute. He is the ninth of 10 gang members charged in federal court in 2008 to be convicted. The remaining defendant, Markette Tillman, 31, is scheduled for trial beginning on September 23, 2013.

Two Playboy Blood co-defendants were sentenced to 20 years each during Taylor’s trial. Steven Booth, 27, aka “Stevie-P,” and Reginald Dunlap, 30, aka “Bowlie,” were sentenced on April 9 and 10, 2013, respectively, after pleading guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges that included aiding and abetting in murder in connection with the Playboy Bloods racketeering conspiracy.

According to court documents and evidence produced at trial, the Bloods is a nationally known criminal street gang whose members engage in drug trafficking and acts of violence. The Playboy Bloods is a local “set” or affiliate of the Bloods, with local control and operation within the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Other Bloods sets within the Las Vegas metropolitan area include the Piru Bloods and the West Coast Bloods. A subset of the Playboy Bloods is Full Throttle Clique, a group made up of Playboy Bloods members who engage in acts of violence, including murder. According to evidence presented at trial, Taylor, Dunlap, and Booth were all members of the Full Throttle Clique of the Playboy Bloods. Taylor, along with other Playboy Bloods enterprise members, operated drug houses in the Sherman Gardens Annex (also known as “The Jets”) and the surrounding areas.

Taylor, along with co-defendants Reginald Dunlap and Steven Booth, was specifically convicted of participating in the murder of Billy Ray Thomas, who was shot multiple times in the back as he worked on a car in the parking lot of the Pecos Terrace Apartments located at 3555 E. Lake Mead Boulevard in Las Vegas while waiting to take his girlfriend to work on the morning of November 1, 2004. The defendants murdered Thomas in retaliation, mistakenly believing him to be a member of a rival street gang. According to evidence presented at trial, two car loads of Playboy Bloods members and associates, including Taylor, Dunlap, Booth, and others, drove through known Crip neighborhoods searching for rivals to retaliate against for the murder of Quaza Burns, a leader of the Playboy Bloods. The victim, Billy Ray Thomas, had no gang affiliation.

Booth also admitted to participating in the murder on January 20, 2004, of Brian Wilcox, a security guard working in the Sherman Gardens Annex. Brian Wilcox was shot several times in the back while on duty.

Evidence produced at trial also showed that on March 21, 2002, Taylor, armed with an AR-15 style assault rifle and another man, armed with an handgun, entered the Klondike Casino in Henderson, Nevada, forced their way behind the casino cage, and robbed the casino of over $7,000.

United States Attorney Daniel G. Bogden commended the trial team and stated, “A federal jury today confirmed that Jacorey Taylor and other members of the Playboy Bloods sold drugs, committed robberies, intimidated security guards and other citizens, and murdered innocent victims. It was only through the persistent hard work of the FBI and our local law enforcement partners, along with dedicated federal prosecutors from my office and the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, that a previously unsolved murder was prosecuted and those gang members were brought to justice. The Sherman Gardens and the surrounding neighborhoods in Las Vegas are safer because of those efforts.”

Taylor has been in federal custody since 2008 and is scheduled to be sentenced on August 8, 2013, by Chief U.S. District Judge Robert C. Jones. Taylor faces up to 20 years on the racketeering conspiracy count, mandatory life in prison on the murder in aid of racketeering charge, up to life for using a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime, 20 years to life on the conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, and up to 30 years in prison for each count of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine. In the federal system, there is no parole, and by statute, Taylor faces a mandatory sentence of life without parole for his murder conviction.

Taylor was the ninth member of the Playboy Bloods enterprise convicted of racketeering conspiracy charges.

The eight other defendants who have been convicted and sentenced are:

• Steven Booth, aka “Stevie-P,” 27, pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy and was sentenced to 20 years in prison on April 10, 2013;
• Reginald Dunlap, aka “Bowlie,” 30, pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy and was sentenced to 20 years in prison on April 9, 2013;
• Demichael Burks, aka “Mikey P,” 29, pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy and was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison on December 3, 2010.
• Anthony Mabry, aka “Akim Slim,” 43, pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy and was sentenced to 14 years in prison on October 20, 2010;
• Delvin Ward, aka “D-Luv,” 37, pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy and was sentenced to 11 years in prison on September 17, 2010;
• Terrence Thomas, aka “Seven,” 40, pleaded to drug conspiracy and was sentenced to 10 years in prison on June 16, 2010;
• Sebastian Wigg, aka “Rock,” 36, pleaded to drug conspiracy and was sentenced to five years in prison on March 29, 2010; and
• Fred Nix, aka “June P,” 36, pleaded to drug conspiracy and was sentenced to five years in prison on March 29, 2010.

The cases were investigated by the FBI’s Las Vegas Safe Streets Gang Task Force, which include officers from the North Las Vegas Police Department and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nicholas D. Dickinson and Phillip N. Smith, Jr., as well as Kevin L. Rosenberg, Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice Organized Crime and Gang Section.