Michigan - U.S. attorneys seek life sentences for Highwaymen

OFF THE WIRE
Highwaymen MC
BY: Robert Snell
 detnews.com
Detroit —The leader of the Detroit Highwaymen Motorcycle Club and five members should be sentenced to life in prison later this month, federal prosecutors said today.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said the club's violent nature justifies the stiff sentences and would help deter others from engaging in such a criminal lifestyle.
The government's recommendation comes seven months after a jury convicted leader Aref "Steve" Nagi and five other Highwaymen members of numerous felony charges. Over the eight-week trial, jurors heard allegations of beatings, drug dealing and efforts by the club to locate suspected "snitches" who passed information to the FBI.
The convictions closed the first phase in the government's prosecution of more than 80 alleged Highwaymen members and associates in one of the largest indictments ever brought in the Eastern District of Michigan.
"Recommending a life sentence for each of these defendants is not something that the government takes lightly," Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane L. Marion wrote in a filing today. The (Highwaymen" enterprise terrorized southwest Detroit and the area surrounding it. Innocent individuals were fired upon, people were followed and beaten and robbed, orders to kill potential snitches were casually given out, and one can only guess at the amount of damage the drug dealing did in a community already ravaged by drug use and sales."
Nagi is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday followed by the five others in coming days and weeks. The other members are: Gary "Junior" Ball Jr.
Leonard "Dad" Moore Joseph "Little Joe" Whiting Anthony "Mad Anthony" Clark Michael "Cocoa" CicchettiAll of the defendants were found guilty of conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which carries a mandatory sentence of 10 years.
Combined with verdicts on other charges, all of the men face terms of up to life.
"Recommending a life sentence for each of these defendants is not something that the government takes lightly," Marion wrote. "Over the course of this investigation various family members and several defendants have become well known to the government, as well as the variety of medical ailments some of these defendants face. The imprisonment of any individual is never a victory — it is a loss of potential, the destruction of a family structure, and the waste of a human life that could have turned out so differently if better choices had been made."
rsnell@detnews.com
(313) 222-2028

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110107/METRO/101070441/U.S.-attorneys-seek-life-sentences-for-Highwaymen#ixzz1AP9FWLby