Several Individuals Associated with Venice Street Gangs Charged for Roles in Narcotics Distribution Ring; Arrests Made This Morning
| FBI Los Angeles July 09, 2009 |
More than 200 federal agents and police investigators executed 28 arrest and search warrants in a coordinated operation this morning that resulted in the apprehension of several members of the Venice Shoreline Crips and Venice-13 street gangs, for their alleged roles in operating a narcotics distribution ring in Venice, California, announced Thomas P. O’Brien, United States Attorney in Los Angeles, Salvador Hernandez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles, and Chief William Bratton of the LAPD. The announcement was made on behalf of multiple agencies that participated in the investigation to assist the formal FBI/LAPD task force, including the Culver City Police Department, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office’s “Project T.O.U.G.H.”
According to multiple indictments filed under seal in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, nine members or associates of a street gang known as the Venice Shoreline Crips, and one member of the Venice-13 Street Gang, were charged federally with conspiracy to distribute and/or distribution of cocaine base in the form of crack cocaine, a schedule II narcotic drug controlled substance, among other charges. According to the indictments, which were unsealed this morning, some of the defendants accepted payment for brokering transactions between suppliers and buyers of crack cocaine, while other defendants supplied cocaine to buyers. Ten additional members associated with the gang, including juveniles, are named in state charges filed in Superior Court in Los Angeles, for their roles in the illegal drug distribution operation. Approximately 10 parole and probation searches were carried out and resulted in several additional arrests.
An investigation was initiated in 2008 by the FBI/LAPD task force that addresses gang-related crime in Los Angeles, to address violence reported by various agencies policing the westside of Los Angeles to include Santa Monica, Culver City and Inglewood. The investigation by the federal task force focused on identifying and disrupting the main suppliers and distributors of narcotics in those areas. During this morning’s operation in areas of west and south Los Angeles, as well as Santa Monica and Inglewood, agents and police executed several federal and state arrest warrants for the charged gang members and/or associates, most of whom are affiliated with the Venice Shoreline Crips, a gang believed to have formed in the 1970s, and whose members are known for trafficking in crack cocaine in the Venice area. Historically, the gang was known for its violent tendencies, which peaked in the 1990s.
Those named in the federal indictments include:
- Stefan Denser, 42, of Los Angeles, arrested this morning
- Dewayne Donelson, 55, of Los Angeles, arrested this morning
- Christopher Featherstone, 52, of Inglewood, arrested this morning
- Geronimo Hernandez, 24, of Los Angeles, arrested this morning
- Johnny Hunter, 47, previously in custody
- Javier Ramon Cardenas-Perez, 26, previously in custody
- Torrey Rodriguez, 37, of Santa Monica, arrested this morning
- Amey Storm, 47, of Santa Monica, arrested this morning
- Damon Williams of Culver City, previously in custody
Federal defendants arrested today will make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles this afternoon. If convicted of the charges, most of the federal defendants, many of whom have extensive criminal histories, face maximum sentences of life imprisonment. Defendants Storm and Cardenas face maximum statutory sentences of forty years in federal prison.
This investigation was conducted by the FBI and the LAPD’s Pacific Division, as well as several agencies who provided invaluable assistance during the investigation and today’s arrests, to include the Culver City Police Department, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Santa Monica Police Department, California Department of Corrections, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office’s “Project T.O.U.G.H.” and the Los Angeles County Probation Department.
The federal defendants listed above will be prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. The District Attorney in Los Angeles will prosecute individuals charged by the state.
The FBI/LAPD Task Force is one of many FBI Safe Streets Task Forces throughout the United States, funded for the purpose of assisting local police in identifying and addressing violent crime in America.