An 18-count superseding indictment was unsealed yesterday in the Southern District of Texas charging 20 defendants – all alleged Free Money gang members and associates from Houston – with federal crimes, including racketeering (RICO) conspiracy, murder and attempted murder in aid of racketeering, Hobbs Act Robbery, and related firearm and drug offenses.
According to court documents, members and associates of Free Money, a violent, Houston-based street gang, used violence and intimidation to control their territory and retaliated against rival gang members, including by conducting numerous drive-by shootings, and raised money through drug trafficking and robberies.
“This 20-defendant indictment alleges that the Free Money gang terrorized the streets of Houston with drive-by and calculated shootings, often in public places like grocery store parking lots, putting countless lives in danger,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “These brazen tactics show the wide-ranging danger posed by violent gangs. The Criminal Division will continue to prioritize investigations and prosecutions of violent gang members so that innocent Americans get what they deserve – their communities restored and their lives unencumbered by the fear and carnage that these gangs perpetuate.”…