For Immediate Release
Monday, October 15, 2018
McGregor W. Scott
Contact: Deb Duckett-Morris
Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Conspiring to Commit Murder In Aid of Racketeering
According to court documents, Stanfield was an influential member of the Dog Pound Gang (“DPG”). In that role, he and other influential members guided and directed the actions of younger, less-experienced gang members. They also set rules, including directives not to talk to the police, to “back up” fellow gang members when they needed help with rival gang members or otherwise, and to assist other DPG members with sex trafficking and credit card fraud. In addition to these crimes, the DPG enterprise engaged in drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit murder, and other offenses affecting interstate commerce.
In pleading guilty to the conspiracy, Stanfield admitted that he agreed with other DPG members to kill rival gang members. While incarcerated in Kern North State Prison for assault with a firearm, Stanfield spoke with several DPG members about getting guns and planning retaliation for the shooting of fellow DPG gang members. The conversations happened in March 2016 after codefendant Kenneth Wharry was shot at by individuals DPG believed to be rival gang members, and during a time when DPG was pursuing retaliation.
This case is the product of an investigation by the California Department of Justice, California Highway Patrol Special Operations Unit; Fresno Police Department; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations; the Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium (MAGEC); the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office; and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly A. Sanchez, Jeffrey A. Spivak, and Christopher D. Baker prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.
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