2:15-cr-20652-GCS-DRG Doc # 118-1 Filed 03/09/16 Pg 1 of 16 Pg ID 321 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CRIM. NO. 15-20652 v. HON.GEORGECARAMSTEEH D-8 MICHAEL ROGERS __________________________/ GOVERNMENT'S WRITTEN PROFFER IN SUPPORT OF ITS REQUEST FOR DETENTION PENDING TRIAL On March 1, 2016, the United States moved for the pretrial detention of defendant Michael Rogers on the basis that he presents a clear danger to the community and a significant flight risk. Furthermore, based upon the nature of the charges, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3142(e)(3), there is a rebuttable presumption that the defendant is a danger to the community, and that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure his presence as required. 1 The government maintains that the defendant should be detained pending trial. In addition to the information contained in the Pretrial Services Report, the government proffers the following supplemental information pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3141(f). I. INTRODUCTION 1 The government has yet to see the Pretrial Services report for defendant Rogers. Consequently, the government will supplement its arguments and proffers based off of information contained in that report after review. 1 GOVERNMENT EXHIBIT l 2:15-cr-20652-GCS-DRG Doc # 118-1 Filed 03/09/16 Pg 2 of 16 Pg ID 322 The defendant has been a Seven Mile Blood gang member for over a decade. For years, this criminal enterprise has terrorized the citizens of eastern Detroit. Their criminal activities include narcotics trafficking, assault, witness intimidation, and murder. The defendants have shown that they will use firearms and violence to harm anyone who stands in their way. They are a danger to the community and therefore should be detained pending trial. II. FACTS a. History of the Seven Mile Bloods The Seven Mile Bloods street gang (SMB) began engaging in organized criminal activity in 2003 primarily on the blocks of Manning and Tacoma on Detroit's east side. Their area of operation has expanded over the last dozen years and is now inclusive of Gratiot Avenue (to the west), Kelly Road (to the east), Eight Mile (to the north) and Seven Mile (to the south), an area they have dubbed the "Red Zone." The SMB sell and distribute illegal narcotics on the streets of this neighborhood: Lappin, Coram, Novara, Liberal, Manning, and Tacoma. 2 2:15-cr-20652-GCS-DRG Doc # 118-1 Filed 03/09/16 Pg 3 of 16 Pg ID 323 The SMB make money through the sale and distribution of vanous different controlled substances including cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, marijuana, codeine promethazine (a prescription cough sy1up that is mixed with Sprite to create "Leen"), and prescription pills, primarily O:xyContin. SMB members sell these d1ugs outside of vacant houses known as "trap houses" here in Detroit. The leaders of the gang share workers and firearms to distribute and protect their products. In addition, the SMB has an extensive out-of-state narcotics trafficking operation going back at least eight years. This operation involves the transportation and distribution of thousands of OxyContin pills, cocaine, marijuana, and heroin in and around the Charleston, West Virginia. Nor is their travel limited to West Virginia. SMB members have been arrested in Ohio, Kentucky, and Maine in possession of controlled substances. Through the years, this gang has grown and now consists of two "sets." The original members of SMB are referred to as SMB Kings or 55. Defendant Rogers is one of the older and original SMB members. The younger SMB group is known as the Hobsquad. Initially, the Hobsquad was known as Seven Mile Blood Juniors and consisted of younger, school-aged minors from the neighborhood. The SMB Juniors changed their name to Hobsquad in honor of one of their ranks, Ihab Maslamani, who was convicted of murdering Matthew Landry in 2010 and who is now serving a life sentence in prison. The SMB and Hobsquad use a variety of unifying marks, manners, and identifiers to show membership 1n the organization. 3 These "gang signs" include 2:15-cr-20652-GCS-DRG Doc # 118-1 Filed 03/09/16 Pg 4 of 16 Pg ID 324 clothing, tattoos and hand signs. A common symbol is the five-pointed star, a hand with all five fingers, or a crown with five points. Hobsquad members flashing gang signs These signs represent that the SMB belong to the "People Nation," an alliance of various street gangs including the Bloods, Vice Lords, Latin Kings, and Latin Counts. This alliance is in direct conflict with the "Folk Nation," an alliance of various street gangs including the Gangster Disciples and the Crips. The SMB also identify themselves with the number "55" and sometimes refer to themselves as "55 Crew" or "55 Grinch." Members will also identify themselves 4 2:15-cr-20652-GCS-DRG Doc # 118-1 Filed 03/09/16 Pg 5 of 16 Pg ID 325 with the number "7 62" which stands for the numbers on a keypad that a person would push to type out "SMB" and "19 13 2" which represents the numerical order in the alphabet for "SMB." Members will often tattoo themselves with these gang symbols. Many of the Seven Mile Bloods symbols, clothing, and sayings attempt to differentiate themselves from or disrespect their rivals. The Seven Mile Bloods' colors are predominately red which the gang members signify by wearing red clothing, hats, and bandanas. Corey Baily, Quincy Graham, Billy Arnold, and Michael Rogers in a still shot taken from a Y ouTube rap video SMB members and associates regularly use social networking websites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Y ouTube, to post photographs, videos, and statements that identify and highlight their affiliation with the gang. They also use social media to discuss their gang-related accomplishments, including narcotics 5 2:15-cr-20652-GCS-DRG Doc # 118-1 Filed 03/09/16 Pg 6 of 16 Pg ID 326 trafficking and violent assaults. SMB members are also heavily involved in the rap mus1c scene. They regularly post videos of their rap music and discuss their gang affiliation and accomplishments via rap songs posted online. The following image was posted on social media by SMB members: "Berenzo" is one of Billy Arnold's street names. b. Offense Conduct Over the past thirteen years, federal and local law enforcement have investigated and arrested numerous members of the SMB and Hobsquad for murders, 6 2:15-cr-20652-GCS-DRG Doc # 118-1 Filed 03/09/16 Pg 7 of 16 Pg ID 327 shootings, assaults, narcotics trafficking, and witness intimidation. Their most violent activity occurs in Detroit. The zip code from this area of Detroit is 48205, which the SMB change into "4-8-2-0-Die" in their rap lyrics. Since 2014, violence carried out by the SMB and their rivals has reached unprecedented levels. In July 2014, SMB members shot into a car carrying four members of a rival gang, the Husde Boys, killing one of the occupants and seriously wounding another. This shooting led to a series of retaliatory shootings on Detroit's east side - with numerous shootings that have occurred over the ensuing 20 months. The rival gangs of the SMB on Detroit's east side-Husde Boys, East Warren, Chedda Ave., Gutta Boys, Maxout 220-have banded together against the historically stronger SMB. After the July 14, 2014 murder, photographs of ten SMB leaders/ members was posted on Instagram and has functionally served as a hit list. Since that posting, seven of the ten SMB members, including defendants Quincy Graham and Michael Rogers, have been shot with four of them killed. In response, the SMB posted 62 photographs of their rivals on the Instagram account "OOO_big_blood." Numerous of these individuals have been shot and some killed. 1. Parole Office Homicide On July 14, 2014 slightly after 11:00 am, a car with four Hustle Boys street gang members was driving away from the Lawton Parole Office located at 5300 Lawton, Detroit. Two of the gang members, twin brothers Michael and Martaze Davis, had just completed parole visits that morning. One of the SMB, Billy Arnold, was also 7 2:15-cr-20652-GCS-DRG Doc # 118-1 Filed 03/09/16 Pg 8 of 16 Pg ID 328 scheduled for a parole visit at the Lawton Parole Office that same morning and saw the Davis twins. He called other SMB members, including Corey Bailey, to that location in order to confront their rivals. As the Davis twins left in a car that included two other Husde Boys, Djuan Page and Cory Crawford, three cars of SMB members began following them. As they drove along Grand River, one of those cars sped up and pulled alongside the Husde Boys' car. Billy Arnold and Corey Bailey started firing numerous times into the Husde Boys' car. Djuan Page was shot in the face and upper torso and Michael Davis was shot in the chest. The driver, Crawford, escaped injury and was able to take the two injured men to the hospital. Davis made a full recovery; however, he has a bullet lodged in his chest that doctors cannot safely remove. Page died from his injuries a few weeks after the attack. 2. May 1, 2015 Revenge Shooting From that date foiward, the shooting war between the SMB and their rival eastside gangs continued to escalate. On May 1, 2015, at approximately 1:15 pm, long-time SMB leader Devon McClure, a/k/ a "Block," was shot and killed in a driveby shooting. McClure was shot multiple times in the head. Six hours later, the SMBs carried out retaliation for this attack. At approximately 7:07 pm, Ralpheal Carter was walking down the block near his east side Detroit home wid1 his 4 and 2 year old daughters. Carter was associated with one of the SMB's rival street gangs. As he was walking, a white car pulled up alongside of 8 2:15-cr-20652-GCS-DRG Doc # 118-1 Filed 03/09/16 Pg 9 of 16 Pg ID 329 Carter. There were multiple people in the car but a single gunman leaned out the window and fi.red approximately 22 rounds from an AR-15 assault rifle at Carter. Carter was initially hit in the stomach and he immediately fell down where he was shot several more times. He was paralyzed from the waist down by the fttst bullet. Law enforcement is continuing to investigate another victim on that same block who was shot at roughly the same time as Carter who we believe was struck by a stray bullet. Later, this was posted on the Seven Mile Bloods Instagram account, OOO_big_blood: and someone • li1 Q 9 Q :. 2:15-cr-20652-GCS-DRG Doc # 118-1 Filed 03/09/16 Pg 10 of 16 Pg ID 330 3. May 8, 2015 Revenge Shooting The revenge shootings did not stop on May 1. Seven days later, Arnold had the following text message exchange with "Thang M," a personal contact in Arnold's phone and believed to be a person with a close relationship to McClure: Arnold (11:10 am): U see anything sis when u spent corner s and the promenade and cout-ville who stay there Thang M (11:13 am): My sister said they be on promenade early in the morning outside and my big cousin said the same thing but they be in a brown 09 impala and the newer Cadillacs like but I'm out here now tho Arnold (11:38 am): Ok call me when you see something please Thang M (11:43 am): Oh I'm on it just like you, I'm sliding thru yall hood now, but be careful please. Arnold (12:25 pm): They better be careful Arnold (5:43 pm): Courvile and hayes Thang M (5:44pm): Yeah by Denby Arnold (6:54pm): U should here bout it At 6:46 pm, Detroit police received a 911 call reporting a shooting near the intersection of Duchess and Craft (approximately two blocks east of Hayes and one block south of Courville Streets). Witnesses in the neighborhood saw a gray car pull up alongside a Pontiac G-6 and a gunman step out to open flre. Witnesses heard multiple shots before seeing the two cars pull off in opposite directions. Once again, 10 2:15-cr-20652-GCS-DRG Doc # 118-1 Filed 03/09/16 Pg 11 of 16 Pg ID 331 there appeared to be multiple people in the car responsible for the shooting. Police later recovered five .223 bullet casings, eight .45 caliber casings, and two 7.62x39 casings on the street and sidewalk. The front windshield of the Pontiac G-6 was riddled with bullet holes; the interior was covered in blood. The four occupants of the Pontiac were Jesse Ritchie (driver), Devonte Roberts (front passenger), Marquis Wicker (rear passenger behind the driver), and Dario Roberts (rear passenger). Devonte was killed with a gunshot wound to the head. Wicker sustained gunshot wounds to the neck, chest, and hand and was in critical condition after the shooting, but survived. Dario was shot in the head with the bullet striking his temple and exiting out the back of his head. Ritchie was unscathed. The Roberts brothers and Wicker are known members of the Mapleridge Boys, an eastside street gang that is a rival of the Seven Mile Bloods. After the shooting, on the Instagram account OOO_big_blood, the same account the SMB posted the hit list of their rivals on, a picture of Davonte Roberts was posted with the caption "He thought he was [3 emoges of laughing faces] got em." There was also this posting: 11 2:15-cr-20652-GCS-DRG Doc # 118-1 Filed 03/09/16 Pg 12 of 16 ··~~a-i~!!ii ~ ~~ i~JJ- Pg ID 332 GGfl- ~~~~a • "' ~ ~ x~ The ini;ident area of Dliehess and Crafft Street Accened frH::, "m' ,.,,..,.,. j)11 he ~ ""* ~ ~ C!l "' '"'"" Ill "'~""~ -- II ~ - ~ ~- .l 4. May 10, 2015 Revenge Shooting Two days later, the SMB mission to kill rival gang members continued. On May 10, 2015 (Mother's Day), several witnesses obse1-ved two gunmen shoot at a Black Impala stopped at a red light at the corner of State Fair and Hoover at approximately 1:40pm. One witness heard one of the gunmen yell, "bust at him, it's a red light." The gunmen filled the car with bullets - 64 shell casings (23 AO caliber and 41 .223 caliber rounds) were recovered. The four occupants of the vehicle ran away from the scene. The car that was the target of the attack was registered to a girlfriend of Darnell Canady, a known Hustle Boy gang member. Derrick Peterson, 12 2:15-cr-20652-GCS-DRG Doc # 118-1 Filed 03/09/16 Pg 13 of 16 Pg ID 333 another known Hustle Boy, checked himself into a hospital that same day, under a false name, for treatment of a gunshot wound. Both Peterson and Canady were on the hit list put out by the SMB on Instagram. Shortly after the attack, Arnold texted fellow SMB members Quincy Graham, Diondre Fitzpatrick and Derrick Kennedy. He asked them to upload a video of Devon McClure rapping about murder to a website. Arnold wanted to let his rivals know why their car was shot up and who shot at them. 5. September 26, 2015 On September 25, 2015, the SMB had a "Block" party at a local strip club in honor of Devon McClure, a/k/ a "Block," since September 25 was McClure's birthday. The party stretched well into the early morning hours of September 26, 2015. At the conclusion of the night, Billy Arnold and Steven Arthur got into a Trailblazer that had been reported stolen. DPD attempted a traffic stop of the vehicle which resulted in a high-speed chase that ended in the Trailblazer blowing its two front tires as it attempted to use a highway interchange ramp. The driver, Arthur, ran from the vehicle but was quickly apprehended. Arnold was arrested in the front passenger seat. A loaded AR-15 rifle was found in the vehicle's back compartment. Ballistics has matched this AR-15 to the May 1, May 8, and May 10 shootings. 2 2 Law enforcement is continuing to investigate numerous other shootings and homicides involving the SMB both from the past year and stretching back to 2005. 13 2:15-cr-20652-GCS-DRG Doc # 118-1 Filed 03/09/16 Pg 14 of 16 Pg ID 334 6. Narcotics distribution In addition to the shootings and violence, the SMB have decimated both the area within the "Red Zone" and Charleston, West Virginia with their narcotics distribution. First, over the past decade, SMB members have been distributing crack cocaine, powder cocaine, heroin, marijuana, OxyContin, and codeine promethazine on a several block stretch of Manning, Tacoma, Monarch, Coram, and Liberal. Defendant Rogers has been identified by several witnesses as being one of the main drug distributors in this neighborhood along with Quincy Graham, Devon Patterson, Corey Bailey, and Anthony Lovejoy. The SMB members have protected their territoq through fear, violence and intimidation. ·Since 2007, the SMB have made Charleston, West Virginia their second home. They have flooded West Virginia with primarily OxyContin, which they can buy cheaply here in Detroit and sell for incredible mark-ups in West Virginia. SMB members make frequent trips from Detroit to Charleston and can easily sell 500-1,000 pills within a matter of hours after their arrival from Detroit. They began by using the Greyhound bus system and have graduated to the use of rental cars to transport the narcotics. Law enforcement in Charleston, West Virginia estimate that they have made well over 100 arrests of Detroit residents during the past decade in this drug shuttling entetprise. Chatleston Police know these indicted SMB members both by given name and street name given how many times they have had contact with them. 14 2:15-cr-20652-GCS-DRG Doc # 118-1 Filed 03/09/16 Pg 15 of 16 Pg ID 335 This criminal misconduct has had a significant impact on West Virginia. Prescription pill abuse in West Virginia is at epidemic levels. See Attachment A Presidmt's West Virginia Drug Control Update (documenting the drug issues in 2007- 2009); Attachment B - Report: West Virginia has highest drug overdose death rate, Washington Times, June 17,2015. Additionally, the violence associated with the SMB has also found its way to Charleston, West Virginia. Local authorities there have convicted two individuals in the April 23, 2014 homicide of Tymel McKinney in Charleston. One of the convicted men told police that Mcl