CHARLOTTE, NC-Five more members and one associate of Charlotte's "Hidden Valley Kings" were sentenced in U.S. District Court in Charlotte today for their participation in a drug distribution conspiracy United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert for the Western District of North Carolina announced. Kenneth Bernard Martin, Ronald Martin, Martrai Davis, Tony Stephens, Kevin Lee Johnson, and Marcus Dupree Coleman were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney of the Western District of North Carolina. Kenneth Bernard Martin, 29, Concord, NC - 198 months, 10 years of supervised release Ronald Martin, 23, Charlotte - 120 months, 10 years of supervised release Martrai Davis, 26, Charlotte - 310 months, 10 years of supervised release (associate) Tony Stephens, 22, Charlotte - 125 months, 10 years of supervised release Kevin Lee Johnson, 25, Charlotte - 240 months, 10 years of supervised release Marcus Dupree Coleman, 25, Charlotte - 140 months, 10 years of supervised release Joining U.S. Attorney Shappert in making today's announcement are FBI Special Agent in Charge of North Carolina operations, Nathan T. Gray, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe.

Those sentenced today pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy. The drug conspiracy lasted from around June 2003 until March of 2007. The conspiracy was responsible for the distribution and possession with intent to distribute large quantities of cocaine and "crack" cocaine, marijuana, and "ecstasy," and was carried out by members of the local criminal street gang known as "Hidden Valley Kings," or associates and/or narcotics suppliers or dealers with Hidden Valley Kings members. The defendants sentenced today are each from Charlotte or the Charlotte area.

Information brought out in court today showed that Defendant Tony Stephens was the main supplier of "crack" cocaine for the group during the time of the investigation that led to the charges. The Hidden Valley Kings made their money from the sale of narcotics in and around Charlotte's Hidden Valley neighborhood, and named themselves after that community where many of the members resided at one time or another and where they attempted to control all narcotics dealing. Including the six defendants who were sentenced today, there were 20 individuals originally charged in connection with the Hidden Valley Kings drug conspiracy. Seven of the Hidden Valley Kings defendants were sentenced in federal court on Tuesday, December 9 and all remaining defendants will be sentenced on Thursday, December 11. One defendant, Demario Bridges, was previously sentenced on September 26, 2008 to 98 months imprisonment and three years of supervised release. Another defendant, Brian Jerome Jordan, was also indicted in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, in Greensboro, and upon his entry of guilty plea to drug distribution charges there, the pending counts against him in this case in the Western District of North Carolina were dismissed by the government.

The Department of Justice has established an Anti-Gang Coordination Committee to organize the Department's wide-ranging efforts to combat gangs, which includes focusing needed attention toward local gang activity.

In Charlotte, the FBI's Safe Streets Task Force, a specialized gang investigation team, worked in close coordination with the U.S. Attorney's Office in order to perfect the federal prosecution against the Hidden Valley Kings. The Safe Streets Task Force in Charlotte is comprised of agents and officers representing ATF, FBI, ICE, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Gastonia Police Department, and Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office. In June of this year, following a long term investigation initiated by Charlotte's Safe Streets Task Force, another 55-count federal indictment was filed and 26 members of the gang commonly known as "MS-13" were rounded up in the Charlotte area and elsewhere on federal charges of racketeering, narcotics, extortion, and federal firearms violations. For more information about the Justice Department's comprehensive efforts to fight gang violence, visit the government's web site www.psn.gov. For more information about FBI's Safe Streets Task Forces, visit http://www.fbi.gov./hq/cid/ngic/natgangtfs.htm .

According to statistics compiled by the NC Criminal Justice Analysis Center of the North Carolina Governor's Crime Commission and reported in March 2008 regarding "reported gangs in North Carolina 2007 /2008," there were 550 groups that met the Crime Commission's definitional criteria for criminal gang in the 2007 statewide survey. The NC Governor's Crime Commission defines a gang as a group or association of three or more persons who may have a name and who individually or collectively engage in, or have engaged in, criminal activity which creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. Criminal activity includes juvenile acts that if committed by an adult would be a crime. To view the Governor's Crime Commission Criminal Gang Study 2008, visit http://www.ncgccd.org/pubs/gangs2008.pdf .

The prosecution of the federal case in connection with the Hidden Valley Kings is being handled for the government by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Zolot, Anti-Gang Coordinator for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina.