January 30th, 2008
Craig Petties (U.S. Marshal's Top 15 List) Indicted for RICO Offenses in Memphis
Memphis, TN - Fugitive and former Memphis resident Craig Petties, age 31, was arrested in Mexico on January 11, 2008. Petties was deported to the United States on January 16, 2008, and he arrived in Memphis on January 18, 2008.
Petties was added to the U.S. Marshals Top 15 List of Most Wanted Fugitives in August 2004, and his case was featured on the “America’s Most Wanted” TV show. This announcement was made today by David Kustoff, United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee and Andrew Dimond, Resident Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Memphis Resident Office, David Jolley, United States Marshal for the Western District of Tennessee, Larry Godwin, Director, Memphis Police Department and Mark Luttrell, Shelby County Sheriff.
Petties was arrested with a female companion and three other individuals, and several firearms were seized. The arrest was accomplished by the Mexican Government, which has been working in coordination with the DEA and the United States Marshals Service.
Petties was originally indicted by a federal grand jury in the Western District of Tennessee in 2002 (Case No. 02-20449). Since then, particularly in 2007, the case has been significantly expanded. The indictment in Case No. 02-20449 was superseded in November of 2007 and January of 2008.
On January 30, 2008, a 56 count indictment was returned against Craig Petties, Demetrious Fields (aka Meat), Clarence Broady (aka Killer), Chris Hamlet (aka Wolf), Fermando Johnson (aka Smiley), Marcus Brandon (aka Whiteboy), and Clinton Lewis (aka Goldie). Craig Petties and his co-defendants were indicted for violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) (racketeering conspiracy), 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(1) (violent crime in aid of racketeering activity), 21 U.S.C. § 846 (conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana), 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) (possession of cocaine and marijuana with the intent to distribute), 18 U.S.C. § 1958(a) (conspiracy to commit murder for hire), and 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956 and 1957 (money laundering).
The RICO indictment alleges that Craig Petties and his fellow defendants were members and associates of a criminal drug trafficking organization (the “Petties DTO”), which operated in Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, Georgia and North Carolina. Members of the Petties DTO engaged in murders, attempted murders, drug trafficking, and other crimes within the Western District of Tennessee, and elsewhere. The Petties DTO began in or about 1995, and continued until Petties’ arrest in January of 2008. Numerous members of the Petties DTO have already been convicted.
The indictment alleges that in 2002 Craig Petties and co-defendant Christopher Hamlett fled the Western District of Tennessee and went to Mexico. While in Mexico, Petties continued to exercise control over the enterprise by directing the delivery of narcotics into the Western District of Tennessee, and elsewhere, and by directing the return of the narcotic proceeds to Texas and Mexico.
Craig Petties and his co-defendants, together with numerous unindicted co-conspirators, conspired to conduct the affairs of the Petties DTO through a pattern of racketeering activity, consisting of multiple acts involving offenses chargeable under state law, including the following:
(1) murder, in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated Section 39-13-202 and Mississippi Code Annotated Section 97-3-19(1)(a); and
(2) kidnaping, in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated Section 39-13-303;
as well as multiple acts indictable under the following provisions of federal law, including:
(3) use of a facility in interstate commerce in the commission of a murder for hire, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1958(a); and
(4) conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, cocaine base (crack cocaine) and marijuana, as well as possession with intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine, cocaine base (crack cocaine) and marijuana, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a) and 846.
The indictment also alleges that members of the Petties DTO were responsible for the murders of Antonio Allen, Latrell Small, Kalonji Griffin, Mario Stewart, Marcus Turner and Mario McNeal.
Craig Petties and his co-defendants are charged with money laundering conspiracy, as well as 39 individual money laundering counts.
All of the defendants indicted in Case No. 02-20449 have now been arrested. This investigation has also led to seizures totaling approximately $2,962,046, including $633,577 in cash and 40 vehicles.
During an operation on November 23, 2007, agents seized $209,150 in cash and 17 vehicles, and arrested Fermando Johnson, of Southaven, Mississippi, (charged with Petties and others in Case No. 02-20449. In connection with that arrest, Kimberly Washington was arrested and charged with aggravated assault after she fired shots at officers executing the arrest and search warrants. Also on November 23, co-defendant Christopher Hamlet was arrested by Mexican Governmental authorities near Mexico City. The arresting officers seized an AK-47-style assault rifle and $729,894 in cash. Hamlet is incarcerated in Mexico pending disposition of a request for his return to the United States.
PENALTIES
Because the RICO conspiracy offense charged in the superseding indictment is based, in part, on racketeering activity for which the maximum penalty includes life imprisonment, the maximum penalty for the RICO conspiracy offense is life imprisonment. The maximum penalty for committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering is death or life imprisonment.
The penalty for the drug conspiracy offense is a minimum prison term of ten (10) years, a maximum prison term of life, a maximum $4,000,000 fine, a term of at least five (5) years of supervised release. If a defendant has one prior drug felony conviction, the minimum prison term is increased to 20 years and the maximum fine is increased $8,000,000 fine, and the minimum term of supervised release is increased to ten (10) years. If a defendant has two or more prior drug felony convictions, the minimum prison term is life.
CONCLUSION
In addition to the agencies listed above, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service have been important participants in the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Scott Leary and Stuart Canale, with the Memphis office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.
The prosecutors and investigating agencies express their appreciation to the Government of the Republic of Mexico for locating and arresting Petties and other fugitives in this matter. That government’s assistance has been essential to the success of this law enforcement operation.
The investigation is continuing.
# # # #