Jury convicts three members of Minneapolis Bloods gang at racketeering trial

A federal jury on Tuesday convicted three members of the Minneapolis Bloods gang in connection with the murder of two rivals. The case is notable because jurors found one of the defendants guilty of racketeering. It’s part of a strategy by federal prosecutors to use a law written to target East Coast mob families to take down Twin Cities street gangs.

The lead defendant, Desean Solomon, is already serving a 36-year state prison sentence for the 2020 murder of a rival gang member Marcus Banks outside the 200 Club in north Minneapolis.

Now Solomon, 34, faces up to life in prison after jurors convicted him of racketeering and using a gun to commit murder for the benefit of the Bloods gang, which operates in south Minneapolis.

Standing trial with Solomon were Michael Burrell, 44, who was convicted along with Solomon in connection with Banks’ death. Jurors convicted Leontawan Holt, 26, in the 2022 killing of Rayshawn Brown outside a pub in the Uptown area of Minneapolis. Burrell and Holt were each found guilty of using a firearm to commit murder in aid of racketeering, which also carry life sentences.

Prosecutors in this case not only had to prove the underlying murder charges, they also had to convince jurors that the defendants committed the crimes for the benefit of a gang. Local and federal authorities have long worked together on gang cases because federal sentences are typically longer than state prison terms. 

Throughout her closing argument on Thursday morning, Assistant U.S. Attorney Esther Mignanelli Soria said the Bloods are a criminal enterprise because they have a rank structure, a common language, and strictly enforced rules. She said both of the killings stemmed from fights between members of rival groups.

At a news conference Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said the RICO law allows prosecutors to go after an entire criminal organization — not just its individual members. 

“One murder at a time is an important and an effective way to go after activity,” Luger said. “But when it’s part of an organization and part of a continuous pattern of crime, it’s better to do it under a statute that allows you to put it all together before one jury.” 

Luger noted that testimony from defendants who pleaded guilty and cooperated was key. Soria applauded the courage of victims who stepped forward to testify.

“It is a privilege to do this job,” Soria said. “And it is an even greater privilege to be entrusted with the stories of the members of the community and victims and to be able to amplify those stories in a trial like this one.”

Judge Susan Richard Nelson kept the names of the jurors in the trial anonymous to prosecutors, the defendants and their attorneys. Typically those parties know jurors’ names, even though members of the public know them only by number.

Juror safety is a major concern among federal judges and attorneys in Minnesota after a woman visited the home of a juror in the Feeding Our Future trial in June and attempted to bribe her with a Hallmark gift bag containing $120,000. 

Tom Plunkett, Solomon’s attorney, said in his closing that the government never proved that Solomon fired the shots that killed Banks. Karen Mohrlant, who represented Holt, downplayed the rigid gang structure that the government emphasized during the trial.

Mohrlant noted instances of members of rival gangs getting along and even being part of the same extended families. She also argued that Holt was acting in self defense and likely would have died had Rayshawn Brown’s gun not jammed during the Uptown incident. 

In his closing, Burrell’s attorney Steven Wolter, argued similarly that the government failed to prove that Burrell killed Marcus Banks and argued that the killing was a personal matter unrelated to the Bloods. 

Prosecutors said the fight inside the bar that night started when Solomon and Burrell spotted a man who’d testified against Burell’s younger brother Myon, who was convicted in the 2002 killing of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards, who was in her house doing homework when a bullet came through the wall of her south Minneapolis homes.

The Minnesota Board of Pardons commuted Myon Burrell’s sentence in 2020 after a joint APM Reports/Associated Press investigation found major problems with the evidence, and an independent expert panel called for his release. Myon Burrell, who was in the courtroom gallery for closing arguments, may be heading back to prison after a Hennepin County judge convicted him on gun and drug charges. 

The convictions of Solomon, Holt, and Michael Burrell are part of a prosecution effort that Luger and multiple law enforcement agencies launched last year targeting gangs including the Bloods, Highs, Lows, 10z and 20z.

So far prosecutors have charged 83 people, and nearly four dozen have pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial.