Department of Justice

This month, the last of 14 defendants were sentenced for their respective roles in a violent criminal enterprise that operated in the Miami neighborhood of Allapattah for crimes committed as early as the year 2000. 

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Ari C. Shapira, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Adolphus P. Wright, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Office, Jorge Colina, Chief, Miami Police Department (MPD), Juan Perez, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), and Daniel Junior, Director, Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department (MDCR), made the announcement as part of the Southern District of Florida Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP).

On September 14, 2018, at the conclusion of a two-month trial before U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez, the jury convicted 10 defendants for racketeering and drug-related offenses.  On April 12, 2019, Judge Martinez completed the sentencing of the final defendant.  The sentences as to the defendants convicted at trial are as follows: 

Antonio Glass, of Miami, was convicted at trial of one count of Racketeering Conspiracy, one count of Drug Distribution Conspiracy, and one count of Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute.  Glass was sentenced to life imprisonment for his conduct, which included the death of a victim arising from the racketeering conspiracy;

Jerimaine Bryant, of Miami, was convicted at trial of one count of Racketeering Conspiracy, one count of Drug Distribution Conspiracy, and three counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute.  Bryant was sentenced to life imprisonment; 

Curtis Bryant, of Miami, was convicted at trial of one count of Racketeering Conspiracy, one count of Drug Distribution Conspiracy, and one count of Attempted Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute.  Bryant was sentenced to life imprisonment for his conduct, which included the death of a victim arising from the racketeering conspiracy; 

Samuel Hayes, of Miami, was convicted at trial of one count of Racketeering Conspiracy, two counts of Robbery, and one count of Firearm Possession in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence.  Hayes was sentenced to 27 years imprisonment;

Mario Rodriguez, of Miami, was convicted at trial of one count of Drug Distribution Conspiracy, one count of Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute, and one count of Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime.  Rodriguez was sentenced to 21 years imprisonment;

Michael Walker, of Miami, was convicted at trial of one count of Racketeering Conspiracy, one count of Drug Distribution Conspiracy, and one count of Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute.  Walker was sentenced to 19 years imprisonment;

Reginald Graham, of Miami, was convicted at trial of one count of Racketeering Conspiracy, Drug Distribution Conspiracy, and one count of Attempted Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute.  Graham was sentenced to 19 years imprisonment;

Daniel Jones, of Miami, was convicted at trial of one count of Drug Distribution Conspiracy.   Jones was sentenced to 19 years imprisonment;

Levi Bryant, of Miami, was convicted at trial of one count of Drug Distribution Conspiracy and one count of Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute.  Bryant was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment; and

Torivis Reginald Ingram, of Miami, was convicted at trial of one count of Drug Distribution Conspiracy and one count of Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute.  Ingram was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment.

The other four defendants, of Miami, pled guilty prior to trial and were sentenced for periods of sixty months to 15 years imprisonment.

During the trial, evidence, that included civilian and law enforcement witness testimony, presented proved how the charged racketeering enterprise, which used names such as the Dub Side Blood Family (DSBF), for over 17 years conducted its unlawful business practices and controlled the South Gwen Cherry Housing Complex in the Allapattah neighborhood of Miami. Witness testimony established how the DSBF members routinely robbed victims at gunpoint and sold narcotics.  The enterprise’s criminal spree included five commercial businesses, including MetroPCS locations, a Food Plus store, and the armed robberies of drug dealers.

The evidence at trial showed that the DSBF became so emboldened that it told a future homicide victim’s own mother that her son would be killed.  The DBSF followed through on that promise with his subsequent murder.  Trial evidence also established that members of the group celebrated after another victim’s murder by posting images of the deceased’s body in a casket.  Trial evidence included jailhouse phone calls and private messages, which captured DSBF members discussing the operation of their organization and proposed responses to circumvent law enforcement’s investigation into the criminal enterprise.   Trial evidence from the defendants’ social media and cellular phone records demonstrated the group’s ability to continue criminal activity despite periods of time when its members were incarcerated.  

U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan commended the collaborative investigative efforts of ATF, FBI, DEA, MPD, MDPD, and MDCR, including the following key participants:  MPD’s Narcotics Unit, Gun Squad, Gang Intelligence Detail, Homicide Unit, and Robbery Unit; MDPD’s Robbery Bureau, Narcotics Bureau, Homicide Bureau, and Street Violence Task Force. Ms. Fajardo Orshan also thanked the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homestead Police Department, Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department’s Security Threat Group Unit, and the South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force to include the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area-Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Gang Strike Force for their support in the investigation.

Through the collaborative VRP, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and its federal and local law enforcement allies have sought to dismantle the most violent criminal networks that plague communities throughout the Southern District of Florida. The sentences announced today are the result of the VRP’s law enforcement initiatives. Additional information regarding the VRP initiatives is available at usafls.vrp@usdoj.gov (link sends e-mail) or by calling (305) 961-9134.

The case was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), Operation Northern Light.  The Northern Light Task Force is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that was formed to combat organized violent crime in Northern Miami-Dade County.  To date the Northern Light Task Force has secured the conviction of 27 defendants involved in complex violent crimes involving homicide, attempted murder, serial robbery, firearms offenses, drug trafficking, and other crimes.  The principal mission of the Northern Light Task Force is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious organized violent criminal conspiracies operating in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ignacio J. Vázquez, Jr. and Ilham A. Hosseini.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

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