A federal grand jury has indicted 24 people connected to a violent Hill District narcotics gang on charges of cocaine and fentanyl dealing following a wiretap investigation by the FBI, DEA and Pittsburgh police.
The indictment was unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court, and authorities announced it Friday at a Downtown news conference. One more defendant was charged by complaint on Thursday, bringing the total to 25.
One of the main players was Kevin Rucker, 52, of Pittsburgh, whom U.S. Attorney Eric Olshan described as a “large-scale distributor of cocaine” who supplied coke to Anthony Coker, 46. Coker in turn supplied other dealers who were members or associates of the “Drizzy Gang” in the Hill.
Olshan said the gang dealt drugs and sold guns as well as operated an open-air drug market on Watson Street.
The suspects are charged with nine counts of dealing large quantities of cocaine and fentanyl along with possession of illegal guns by felons, and spans a time frame from June of last year to this June.
Law officers had begun rounding up some of the suspects last month and most are now in custody.
Federal agents and police, who tracked the Drizzy Gang for a year, said its members were responsible for shootings, robberies and drug trafficking that terrorized neighborhoods.
Specifics of the case are sparse, but a prior complaint by an FBI agent filed May 23 indicates that law enforcement pulled over three of the suspects on Forbes Avenue after they left Watson Street and found all three with guns they aren’t allowed to have.
Those suspects are identified as Tyron Harrison, 30; Brian Horton, 22; and William Jones, 28, all of Pittsburgh.
The others indicted are: Andre Cain, 46, of Pittsburgh; William Lewis, 45, of Pittsburgh; Lamont Bell, 54, of Pittsburgh; Sean Woody, 32, of Pittsburgh; Micah Latimer, 22, of Pittsburgh; Delano Brown, 36, of Pittsburgh; Anthony Lee, 43, of Pittsburgh; Jamone Watson, 28, of Pittsburgh; Mark Cook, 55, of Clairton; Eric Peoples, 46, of Pittsburgh; Edwin Peoples, 44, of Pittsburgh; Robert Fields, 29, of Pittsburgh; Marvin Coates, 49, of Pittsburgh; Roy Wood, 47, of Pittsburgh; Shawn Norwood, 32, of South Park; Marvin Grimmitt, 68, of Pittsburgh; Damon Peters, 19, of Pittsburgh; Eric Howard, 35, of McKees Rocks; and Maurice Smith, 28, of Pittsburgh.
Rucker, Coker and Cain face the heaviest prison terms if convicted of at least 10 years in prison and up to life.
Torsten covers the courts for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Reach him at jtorsteno@gmail.com.
