Member of Minneapolis "Bloods" street gang sentenced to life in racketeering case
New charges in Feeding Our Future fraud, and more headlines
New charges in Feeding Our Future fraud, and more headlines
A member of a Minneapolis street gang was sentenced to life and an additional 20 years on Wednesday.
Desean Solomon, 34, was charged as part of a federal gang crackdown in 2023. He faced racketeer influenced corrupt organization (RICO) charges and two counts of using and carrying a firearm in furtherance of murder. He was convicted of those charges in October.
Solomon was the first RICO trial defendant to be sentenced.
Prosecutors said Solomon had been associated with the Minneapolis Bloods street gang since 2020, which operates mainly on the south side of the city near Chicago Avenue South and 38th Street East.
In June of 2020, court records show the men went to a Minneapolis night club and assaulted a rival gang member. They left the club and a gunfight broke out outside, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Solomon and another Bloods member fired their weapons, and the rival gang member was killed.
In April of 2022, Solomon went to a bar in Uptown and, with another Bloods member, started a large fight, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Within several minutes, the Bloods members, including Solomon, left the bar and shot and killed a rival gang member.
"Solomon chose violence as a way of life — trafficking in fear, intimidation, and death to exert power, feed criminal ambition and expand the Blood's grip on the streets," said Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. of FBI Minneapolis. "Today's sentence reflects the gravity of the crimes committed."
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