INDIANAPOLIS -- The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced federal charges Tuesday against 14 men accused of running a gun and drug trafficking organization out of Indy’s northeast side.
In an indictment unsealed this week, federal prosecutors charge the men – who they say went by the moniker Stupid Star Entertainment – with counts ranging from possession of cocaine and controlled substances to possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
The investigation began in May 2016 and centered around houses in the so-called “Gangsterville” area of Martindale-Brightwood. Specifically, investigators identified houses alleged to be used by the group in the 2400 block of North Rural Street, 2800 block of North Olney Street, 3600 block of Orchard Avenue and further northeast in the 6400 block of East 44th Place.
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The men charged in the alleged drug and gun trafficking scheme follow:
- Devon Price, 31 (aka Big Mike)
- William Bobo, 25
- Michael Graham, 23 (aka Mike-Mike)
- Alan Wann, 20 (aka Boogie)
- Dujuan Terry, 21 (aka Youngster)
- Ricky Wilburn, 24
- Henry Phillips, 25
- Mose Bell, 42
- William Elliott, 24
- Corey Gibson, 39
- Tracy Hollowell, 23
- Derrick Motley, 27
- Jonathan Talley, 25
- Larry Wood, 43
U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler said the case is the start of a two-year Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative to utilize federal resources to remove violent offenders from the streets of Indianapolis.
Minkler said he has given his associate U.S. attorneys the directive to use the “federal hammer” – crimes with mandatory minimum sentences – to strategically target those who are “infesting” Indianapolis neighborhoods with guns and violence.
He said charging the suspects in federal court allows them to be detained before trial, and also means a conviction will carry a lengthy, mandatory sentence – usually served in a federal facility in another state.
“When they are arrested, they are gone,” Minkler said. “They are exiled. They are out of the community.”
On Friday, search warrants executed in the case resulted in the seizure of methamphetamine, marijuana and synthetic cannabinoids, as well as $20,000 in currency and 10 firearms alleged to belong to the group. The indictment also indicates authorities intercepted a package of a synthetic cannabinoid called 5Fluoro-AMB headed for the Olney Street house from a seller in Hong Kong.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said all 14 men face up to a decade in prison if convicted.
Watch the full press conference below:
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