Members of Simon City Royals were arrested on Friday and charged. The group is also known as the Almighty Simon City Royal Nation, and they are a street and prison gang which began in Chicago in 1952 and moved into Mississippi and Wisconsin.
A federal indictment was unsealed today charging 21 alleged members and associates of the Simon City Royals gang with a racketeering conspiracy involving murder, attempted murder, narcotics trafficking, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, wire fraud and money laundering.
The indictment charges Allen Posey, 47; Jonathan Davis, 38; Jeremy Holcombe, 42; Jonathan Burnett, 38; Hank Chapman, 37; Jason Hayden, 41; Joshua Miller, 40; Gavin Pierson, 32; Justin Shaw, 35; Bobby Brumfield, 42; Jordan Deakles, 30; Bryce Frances, 42; Anthony Murphy, 29; Chancey Bilbo, 30; Dillon Heffker, 31; Douglas Jones, 33; Cody Woodall, 30; and Michael Muscolino, 42, with racketeering conspiracy. The indictment also charges those individuals and Valerie Madden, 53; Samuel Conwill, 43; and Jason Collins, 38, with narcotics conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. Nine of the defendants – Shaw, Posey, Brumfield, Jones, Pierson, Deakles, Davis, Frances, Heffker and Murphy – are additionally charged with murder in aid of racketeering, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, or assault in aid of racketeering.
“The Criminal Division is committed to dismantling gangs, like the Simon City Royals, that use violence and intimidation to damage our communities and interfere with our justice system,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This indictment demonstrates that the Department of Justice is dedicated to protecting people victimized by these gangs and holding the alleged offenders accountable.”
According to the indictment, the Simon City Royals are a national criminal gang whose dealings include extortion, narcotics, identity-theft, money laundering and violent crime. The gang has a formalized hierarchy involving numerous “boards” and “teams,” including a team dedicated to carrying out violent gang punishments, and a “money team” responsible for earning revenue through fraud, illegal gambling, and identity theft.
According to the indictment, the defendants murdered or attempted to murder numerous individuals, including a suspected law-enforcement cooperator, a rival gang leader, and individuals perceived to have shown disrespect to the gang. The defendants employed various methods to conceal their activities and finances, including communicating via encrypted messages and filing articles of incorporation to establish a fraudulent nonprofit organization with the state of Mississippi.
If convicted, the defendants face penalties ranging from 10 years and life for narcotics conspiracy; up to 20 years for money laundering conspiracy; 20 years to life imprisonment for the racketeering conspiracy; up to 10 years in prison for attempted murder in aid of racketeering; and up to 20 years for assault in aid of racketeering; and a mandatory life in prison sentence for murder in aid of racketeering. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
