Las Vegas, Nev. - The first of 22 members of the Rolling 60s Crips street gang charged last August with federal racketeering offenses, was sentenced yesterday for his guilty plea to Conspiracy to Engage in a Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

RONNIE GIBSON, aka Ronnie-O, age 32, of North Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced to 116 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Larry R. Hicks. Judge Hicks also ordered that GIBSON be placed on supervised release for five years following his release from prison, with special conditions that he is ineligible for federal benefits for five years and that he refrain from associating with any Rolling 60's Crips members.

The defendant admitted the following facts in his guilty plea memorandum:

• That he is a member of the Rolling 60s Crips gang in Las Vegas and was "familied in";
• That he is considered an O.G. or Original Gangster (leader) in the gang;
• That the Rolling 60s Crips mainly make their money by selling crack cocaine, and that they operated drug houses or "spots," usually apartments or hotel rooms, for that purpose;
• That as a Rolling 60s gang member, he and others controlled the sale of drugs in an area of Las Vegas known as "West Las Vegas", and that they used guns and violence to control that territory;
• That some O.G.'s direct young gang members to protect them, and that young members of the gang, in order to gain status, must "gang bang" by conducting drive-by shootings or threatening witnesses with arson, physical attack and murder, so that witnesses will not report their activities to law enforcement.
• That he sold crack cocaine as a member of the Rolling 60s Crips from May 1990 through August 2003;
• That he possessed with the intent to distribute 5.5 grams of crack cocaine on March 27, 2003; possessed with the intent to distribute 6.6 grams of crack cocaine on July 30, 2003; and possessed with the intent to distribute 1.6 grams of crack cocaine on August 6, 2003;
• And, that during the above transactions, he received the crack cocaine from other Rolling 60s Crips, and sold it with other Rolling 60s Crips in Rolling 60's territory

Under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, GIBSON was sentenced for conduct "relevant" to the offense of conviction, and was held accountable for a total of 84.1 grams of crack cocaine.

The investigation and prosecution of the members of the Rolling 60s street gang and their involvement in violent crime and drug trafficking in Clark County, Nevada, is the largest of its kind in the area, and has required the resources, coordination and cooperation of numerous federal, state and local agencies. RONNIE GIBSON is the first defendant to be sentenced in the group of 22 individuals indicted on August 12, 2003 (Case No. CR-S-03-350-LRH). Six other defendants charged in that case have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. In addition, 14 other Rolling 60s gang members who were charged separately in the United States District Court in Las Vegas, have been convicted and are awaiting sentencing. Numerous others have been charged and convicted in the 8th Judicial District Court in Clark County, and are being prosecuted by the Clark County District Attorney's Office.

The federal cases are being investigated by the FBI's Violent Crime Squad, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the Henderson Police Department, the North Las Vegas Police Department, and are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathleen Bliss and Brian Quarles.

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