PDF's Reign of terror
Prosecutors have alleged the gang was a criminal enterprise whose members sold rock cocaine to support fledgling rap careers.
PDF's Reign of terror
Vallejo was at its most dangerous around the Early to mid-1990s. In 1994, when Vallejo saw a staggering 31 homicides, local police even brought in the California Highway Patrol to help control hot spots.
Members of gangs called 5 Deuce Waterfront Gangsta Crips and City Park Gangstas formed the Pitch Dark Family, the government argued.
The indictment covered the time between 1994 and 2000, after which investigators said the gang began to unravel.
The government argued that only PDF members could sell drugs from Sonoma Boulevard to Mare Island Strait. The heart of PDF territory were three businesses along Sonoma Boulevard, the Shell and former Beacon gas stations, and a burrito truck at Ohio Street.
Anyone caught selling on PDF turf, snitching or talking too much could, and did, get killed, the government said.
On Friday, Special Agent Fong sharply rejected criticism that the government spent years prosecuting men who were essentially accused of being street thugs. "Move next door to them," he said.
"This is a gang that terrorized Vallejo for too long," prosecutor Lapham added.
One particularly brutal murder was the 1994 killing of Keith Roberts, a drug user who stole from PDF and owed drug money, the prosecution said.
The government claimed PDF members drove after Roberts, chased him briefly on foot, then shot him from behind. As he lay wounded in the street, the original shooter passed the handgun to two other PDF members who shot him "execution-style" in the back of the head and neck, the government argued.
The government described how PDF members would hunt down their victims in a car, jump out and shoot them.
In the Roberts case, the prosecution claimed ballistics results came from a rare .38 super auto hand gun, which the prosecution linked to Jason Walker. Investigators said the same gun was linked to a carjacking Walker is suspected of committing around the same time.
When not killing rivals, the prosecution said PDF let their own neighborhoods know who was in charge.
In one instance, a witness testified that a PDF member smashed her boom box after she played a North Vallejo rapper's CD. After she called police, PDF members shot up her house during a drive-by, the prosecution argued.
"We're talking about protecting a monopoly," Lapham said in court.
The federal racketeering statute, often used against organized crime families, must prove an "association in fact," the government said.
Defense attorneys countered, saying PDF wasn't a gang, but rather unsuccessful rappers and dope addicts.
"PDF should have some limousines, boats, something to show," defense attorney Robert Peters said in court.
Defense attorney Peter Kmeto told the jury the only reason federal authorities got involved was because the Solano County District Attorney wouldn't try the cases, "because they couldn't prove them."
Kmeto said the entire case was a creation of three entities - Vallejo PD, the FBI and another gang called Folks, who Kmeto said was actually responsible for some of the crimes.
"The FBI was suckered in by very smart street people," Kmeto said.
Defense position
The defense claimed the government's case relied on unsavory witnesses, many who received deals for reduced sentences in other crimes and others money to testify.
Only Greer, of all the original defendants, testified. The government questioned his testimony.
"He weaved through the landmines laid for him and he didn't do a very good job," prosecutor Lapham told the jury.
The defense also tried to finger the westside folks gang as the real criminal organization, even going so far as to say a government witness shot Richard Garrett.
"You've got the wrong group of folks here, folks," Kmeto said.
"This is a Folks trial here with two members of PDF attending," Peters added.
One piece of evidence showed a Murder Dog magazine photo with a black man pointing a gun with a PDF hat. The defense claimed the prosecution was attempting to "scare" the jury into voting for guilt, although the evidence was introduced by defense attorneys.
The defense said the government even tried to use the rap music as proof of the defendants' guilt.
"The government needs you to be frightened of Shango Greer," Kmeto told the jury. He also noted that the government is "hoping (the jury) has a very strong prejudice against rap music."
Included in evidence were letters and taped conversations with two defendants, with much of the dialogue and written words as if they came out of a hard gangsta rap song.
While the prosecution culled these exchanges for evidence of PDF's gang status and acknowledgment of crimes, the defense merely termed them "ghetto hyperbole."
In the end, however, relatives of both the victims and defendants were left suffering, a family member said.
"There are no winners on any end of this," sister of murder victim Larry Cayton said. "They're at a loss, we're at a loss. But there's got to be justice."
* * * *
Victims
Jan. 19, 1994 - Murder of Jewel Hart, 500 block of York Street
July 15, 1994 - Attempted murder of Jason Hickerson, Werden and Parrott streets
Aug. 3, 1994 - Murder of Keith Roberts, Sonoma Boulevard and Louisiana Street
Aug. 28, 1994 - Murder of Richard Garrett, 2500 block of Sonoma Boulevard
Jan. 24, 1998 - Murder of Devin Russell, Sonoma Boulevard and Kentucky Street
April 8, 2000 - Murder of Larry Cayton, Oakland
* * * *
Defendants
• Jason "Fade" Walker, 31, of Vallejo, found guilty of conspiracy to racketeering, faces life
• Shango Jaja "G.O." Greer, 33, of East Palo Alto, found guilty of conducting the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering and conspiracy to racketeering, faces life
• Charles Lee "Shady" White, 34, of Vallejo, awaiting competency hearing, faces racketeering and conspiracy counts
• Louis "Lou Dawg" Walker, 35, of Vallejo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to racketeering, 33 months
• Eric "E.J. Rabbit" Jones, 32, of Vallejo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to racketeering, 60 months
• Elliot "L.L." Cole, 34, of Vallejo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to racketeering, 43 months
• Oscar Gonzalez, 28, of Reno, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to racketeering, 57 months
• Arnando Villafan, - 25, of Reno,who was only 17 at the time of
an alleged murder - will be spared the death penalty. pleaded guilty to conspiracy to racketeering, 52 months
• Marc "Bowleggs" Tarver, 36, of Vallejo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to racketeering, 27 months
Prosecutors have alleged the gang was a criminal enterprise whose members sold rock cocaine to support fledgling rap careers.
PDF's Reign of terror
Vallejo was at its most dangerous around the Early to mid-1990s. In 1994, when Vallejo saw a staggering 31 homicides, local police even brought in the California Highway Patrol to help control hot spots.
Members of gangs called 5 Deuce Waterfront Gangsta Crips and City Park Gangstas formed the Pitch Dark Family, the government argued.
The indictment covered the time between 1994 and 2000, after which investigators said the gang began to unravel.
The government argued that only PDF members could sell drugs from Sonoma Boulevard to Mare Island Strait. The heart of PDF territory were three businesses along Sonoma Boulevard, the Shell and former Beacon gas stations, and a burrito truck at Ohio Street.
Anyone caught selling on PDF turf, snitching or talking too much could, and did, get killed, the government said.
On Friday, Special Agent Fong sharply rejected criticism that the government spent years prosecuting men who were essentially accused of being street thugs. "Move next door to them," he said.
"This is a gang that terrorized Vallejo for too long," prosecutor Lapham added.
One particularly brutal murder was the 1994 killing of Keith Roberts, a drug user who stole from PDF and owed drug money, the prosecution said.
The government claimed PDF members drove after Roberts, chased him briefly on foot, then shot him from behind. As he lay wounded in the street, the original shooter passed the handgun to two other PDF members who shot him "execution-style" in the back of the head and neck, the government argued.
The government described how PDF members would hunt down their victims in a car, jump out and shoot them.
In the Roberts case, the prosecution claimed ballistics results came from a rare .38 super auto hand gun, which the prosecution linked to Jason Walker. Investigators said the same gun was linked to a carjacking Walker is suspected of committing around the same time.
When not killing rivals, the prosecution said PDF let their own neighborhoods know who was in charge.
In one instance, a witness testified that a PDF member smashed her boom box after she played a North Vallejo rapper's CD. After she called police, PDF members shot up her house during a drive-by, the prosecution argued.
"We're talking about protecting a monopoly," Lapham said in court.
The federal racketeering statute, often used against organized crime families, must prove an "association in fact," the government said.
Defense attorneys countered, saying PDF wasn't a gang, but rather unsuccessful rappers and dope addicts.
"PDF should have some limousines, boats, something to show," defense attorney Robert Peters said in court.
Defense attorney Peter Kmeto told the jury the only reason federal authorities got involved was because the Solano County District Attorney wouldn't try the cases, "because they couldn't prove them."
Kmeto said the entire case was a creation of three entities - Vallejo PD, the FBI and another gang called Folks, who Kmeto said was actually responsible for some of the crimes.
"The FBI was suckered in by very smart street people," Kmeto said.
Defense position
The defense claimed the government's case relied on unsavory witnesses, many who received deals for reduced sentences in other crimes and others money to testify.
Only Greer, of all the original defendants, testified. The government questioned his testimony.
"He weaved through the landmines laid for him and he didn't do a very good job," prosecutor Lapham told the jury.
The defense also tried to finger the westside folks gang as the real criminal organization, even going so far as to say a government witness shot Richard Garrett.
"You've got the wrong group of folks here, folks," Kmeto said.
"This is a Folks trial here with two members of PDF attending," Peters added.
One piece of evidence showed a Murder Dog magazine photo with a black man pointing a gun with a PDF hat. The defense claimed the prosecution was attempting to "scare" the jury into voting for guilt, although the evidence was introduced by defense attorneys.
The defense said the government even tried to use the rap music as proof of the defendants' guilt.
"The government needs you to be frightened of Shango Greer," Kmeto told the jury. He also noted that the government is "hoping (the jury) has a very strong prejudice against rap music."
Included in evidence were letters and taped conversations with two defendants, with much of the dialogue and written words as if they came out of a hard gangsta rap song.
While the prosecution culled these exchanges for evidence of PDF's gang status and acknowledgment of crimes, the defense merely termed them "ghetto hyperbole."
In the end, however, relatives of both the victims and defendants were left suffering, a family member said.
"There are no winners on any end of this," sister of murder victim Larry Cayton said. "They're at a loss, we're at a loss. But there's got to be justice."
* * * *
Victims
Jan. 19, 1994 - Murder of Jewel Hart, 500 block of York Street
July 15, 1994 - Attempted murder of Jason Hickerson, Werden and Parrott streets
Aug. 3, 1994 - Murder of Keith Roberts, Sonoma Boulevard and Louisiana Street
Aug. 28, 1994 - Murder of Richard Garrett, 2500 block of Sonoma Boulevard
Jan. 24, 1998 - Murder of Devin Russell, Sonoma Boulevard and Kentucky Street
April 8, 2000 - Murder of Larry Cayton, Oakland
* * * *
Defendants
• Jason "Fade" Walker, 31, of Vallejo, found guilty of conspiracy to racketeering, faces life
• Shango Jaja "G.O." Greer, 33, of East Palo Alto, found guilty of conducting the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering and conspiracy to racketeering, faces life
• Charles Lee "Shady" White, 34, of Vallejo, awaiting competency hearing, faces racketeering and conspiracy counts
• Louis "Lou Dawg" Walker, 35, of Vallejo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to racketeering, 33 months
• Eric "E.J. Rabbit" Jones, 32, of Vallejo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to racketeering, 60 months
• Elliot "L.L." Cole, 34, of Vallejo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to racketeering, 43 months
• Oscar Gonzalez, 28, of Reno, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to racketeering, 57 months
• Arnando Villafan, - 25, of Reno,who was only 17 at the time of
an alleged murder - will be spared the death penalty. pleaded guilty to conspiracy to racketeering, 52 months
• Marc "Bowleggs" Tarver, 36, of Vallejo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to racketeering, 27 months
