Alleged leaders of Kansas City gang ‘confederation’ indicted for racketeering, murder
Nine alleged Kansas City gang leaders and members are charged in a sweeping federal indictment as they stand accused of crimes that include racketeering, drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit murder.
Prosecutors for the Western District of Missouri announced the charges on Thursday after five were arrested in a massive law enforcement operation, which relied on 140 law officers from various area agencies and included search operations at 16 residences.
Alleged gang leaders facing charges in the conspiracy are Steven “Bizzle” Lee, 38, of the Park Side Greasies; Charles “Chucky D” Williams, 35, of the Click Clack Gang; and Travis L. Cook, 30, of the South Benton Gang.
Prosecutors say the three men oversaw a “confederation” of gangs, under an umbrella called South Park Click, to profit from a drug trade network bolstered by violence and intimidation.
Others involved in the criminal enterprise, prosecutors allege, are Richard “Scritch” Johnson, 24; Deion “Wommy” Alford, 23; Ewon “Won” Kelley, 33; Myreku L. Frazier, 30, Anthony “Dee” Hunter, 25; and Jacequin “Noodles” Boswell, 30.
The latter are accused of crimes that range from participating in drug trafficking to the attempted enforcement of an open murder-for-hire contract on a rival drug dealer’s head.
Federal prosecutors are calling for all nine defendants to be held without bond, citing a “serious risk” they may obstruct justice by injuring or intimidating witnesses, among other reasons.
Prosecutors say the racketeering conspiracy dates back to 2008 and has ties to neighborhoods in Kansas City’s East Side.
Specific instances of alleged violence include a murder contract that prosecutors say was opened in December 2017.
Lee, the alleged leader of the Park Side Greasies, is accused of orchestrating attempts to have a rival drug dealer, identified in court documents as Victim 1, killed. Two of the other defendants made unsuccessful attempts to carry that out, prosecutors allege, including an instance in late 2018 when gunshots were fired on 34th Street.
More recently, prosecutors allege in January 2021 that Johnson and Alford fired upon multiple vehicles whose occupants were believed to be rivals of the Park Side Greasies. One person, described by prosecutors as an “uninvolved citizen,” was injured in the shooting.
Beyond drug dealing, prosecutors say the group was involved in robberies and burglaries and illegally obtained firearms to further their criminal activity. Along with arrests Thursday, police seized nearly 30 firearms, including two machine guns, and undisclosed amounts of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana and cash.
The major case is part of a local Justice Department initiative called the KC Metro Strike Force, which is composed of federal and local investigators focused on drug trafficking and gang violence. It was launched in Kansas City in 2019 as part of a larger project to address organized crime in major cities around the country.
