Bay Area True Crime Chronicles

Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

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Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

Table Of Contents Intro The Romper Room Gang MAC DRE Fat Tone Slipping In Las Vegas Thizz Entertainment Epilogue

Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

Intro The Bay Area with a population of over 7 million people, its no surprise that many violent and scandalous crimes occur on a regular basis and many on the streets of the Bay Area call them selves hustlers,gangsters and think of themselves as crime lords.

The true stories covered in The Bay Area True Crime Chronicles takes a look at real gangsters,hustlers and crime lords of the Bay Area.

The Romper Room Gang hit licks from the Central Valley of California to The Bay of Oakland and San Francisco.

Mac Dre Died A Ghetto Legend, His Story Of Independent Records,Robbery And Rap Music.

Kansas City Rapper Fat Tone Gets Caught Up In The Mix. Thizz Entertainment Indicted Multi Million Dollar Drug Ring.

Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

The Romper Room Gang The Romper Room Gang, from the CRESTSIDE neighborhood in Vallejo, came to prominence in the early 1990s when it committed a series of pizza parlor and bank takeover robberies. The gang branched out to at least 10 other counties and diversified its criminal activities. Authorities linked the gang to narcotics sales, vehicle theft, and drive-by shootings.

VALLEJO'S CRESTSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD occupies a tear-shaped square mile on the northeastern edge of town, wedged between a major thoroughfare and the freeways shuttling tourists to nearby Marine World. Centered on Crest Ranch Park, with bucolic street names like Miravista and Haviture Way, it was clearly designed as suburban space – modest homes with tidy lawns are laid out in traffic-impeding loops and dead ends, at once labyrinthine and insular. But far from being a commuter haven, CRESTSIDE is the toughest hood in Vallejo, home to a small, proud, extremely close-knit African American community that contributes a disproportionately large share of talent to Bay Area hiphop.

According to J-Diggs, a Romper Room crew member "the Romper Room crew was a group of youngsters growing up together – the name 'gang' was attached to us by the media. Our crew was only 11 deep and 9 of us went to the feds."

"I was into the bank robbery game," J-Diggs freely admits.

Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance © 2014

Da'unda'dogg (born Troy Deon Reddick) is a recording artist, producer and CEO of Cavvy R. Records. In addition he owns Da'unda'dogg clothing company and was once Co-CEO of Thizz Entertainment.

Born and raised in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California and venturing to the Country Club Crest in Vallejo, California at the age of 15,Da'unda'dogg has been a major figure on the underground west-coast music scene since the mid 80's. Gaining national recognition after being featured on the single "California Livin", in 1990 with Mac Dre. Also known as Coolio or Coolio-Da'unda'dogg,(Not to be confused with the other Coolio), he has released 10 solo albums to date and has a catalog of over 30 releases by his label. He has produced songs for or worked with artist such as Mac Dre, Dubee, Mac Mall, Spice 1, Kid Frost,Baby Bash, San Quinn, Brotha Lynch Hung, N2Deep, Gonzoe, Yukmouth and J-Diggs, all of which who have or has had major label exposure.

Originally from the Watts, area of Los Angeles, Da'unda'dogg was abandoned by his father Eddie Reddick Jr. at birth. His father was a member of the Los Angeles based R&B group, The L.A. Boppers, also known as Side effect. The second oldest of six siblings, Da'unda'dogg got involved in drugs and gangs early on. While he was attending Jordan High School in Los Angeles his mother decided it would be best for the family to relocate to Vallejo in the Bay Area. There he attended Peoples High School in which he dropped out in the 11th Grade due to his high involvement in illegal street activity. He became known to law officials as a member or affiliate of the Grape Street Crips and of the Romper Room Crew, which police dubbed as the Romper Room Gang.

In 1992, Da'unda'dogg was indicted on federal charges for armed bank robbery and eventually sentenced to 5 years in prison. Landing him and his crew on a List of famous bank robbers and robberies. While incarcerated Da'unda'dogg earned his high school diploma and attended college classes offered through Southwest Baptist University in Missouri. He was released from Leavenworth Penitentiary in late 1996 and began to spark back his music career.

The remaining Romper Room Gang members were identified or arrested for 8 different credit union robberies and suspected in 27 more. The dollar loss from the 35-50 robberies was a estimated $1.4 million. After a yearlong effort by the Vallejo Violence Suppression Task Force, the Romper Room Gang was dismantled in 1998.

Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

MAC DRE Andre Louis Hicks ( MAC DRE) was born in Oakland, California on July 5, 1970 and moved to Vallejo at a young age. He grew up in Vallejo, in the Country Club Crest, also known as The Crest neighborhood. He attended People's High School in Vallejo.

Mac Dre recorded his first three albums between 1989 and 1991.

In the early 90s Mac Dre was the talk of the town. His albums like California Livin' , Young Black Brotha and What's Really Going On? were heard from practically every boom box, every car, and every night club in the Bay Area.

Just when it appeared that Dre was about to take it to the next level he found himself deeply embroiled in some major controversy. Around the time Mac Dre was hittin' it big, Vallejo was experiencing a rash a bank robberies. The FBI and police officials had linked the crimes to V-Town's notorious Romper Room Gang. This particular crew seemed to literally toy with police as they robbed bank after bank but left no proof for the police... Adding Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

fuel to this fire was Mac Dre who boldly gave written shout outs to the Romper Room Family on the back of his 'What's Really Going On' ep. He also had Romp Productions etched on the back of his ep. In addition Dre dropped a song called Punk Police which added to the taunting. Here Dre addressed the issue of the Vallejo bank robberies and even called out then Vallejo Police chief by name.. Needless to say some undue attention was directed toward Mac Dre as a result.

According to Mac Dre, the Romp was a not just a loosely knit Vallejo based clique, it was also a slang term used by many in Vallejo. Mac Dre defended his song 'Punk Police' by noting that seemingly all young Black men in Vallejo were suspected criminals according to police. As an artist he felt he had a right to express himself and in this case The Romper Room bank robberies was what everyone was speaking on.. Dre merely offered his perspective. The Vallejo Police department remained unconvinced as they shifted their attention to Dre and his associates.

It was their understanding that the Romper Room Gang resided within Dre's Crest Side neighborhood. Hence even if he wasn't directly involved, they believed that he knew some of the members. His record Punk Police seemed to imply this. The police also weren't buying his story about the usage of the name Romp on the back of his lp. The Vallejo police department and FBI referred to the bank robbers as The Romper Room Gang. On the back of the lp Dre gives shout outs to the Romp Family.

Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

While Mac Dre sat in a Fresno prison awaiting trial he called into KMEL Radio's very popular anti-gang program...Street Soldiers. Here he ran down his version of the story and also made it known that the police had gotten a 'witness' to lie against him. If memory serves me correctly Dre may have even named this person. The next day KMEL Radio was visited

by The FBI who literally put the fear of God in the management and staff. Station officials were accused of trying to mess up the case as well as endangering the life of their key witness due to the fact that Dre named him. In addition the FBI informed the station management that Dre's live interview was completely unauthorized. The result was no more live interviews from prison from Mac Dre..but his name and legacy was not forgotten.

Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

His partner and producer Khayree formed a Vallejo based record label called Young Black Brotha which was named after Dre's first lp. He even recorded a ep which featured Dre rappin' to beats over a prison phone. The ultimate tribute came when Khayree released an lp from another Crest side rapper who adapted the Mac surname... His name is Mac Mall. Folks may be familiar with Mall from his hit song and video 'Get Right' on Relativity records.

In 1992 Mac Dre was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison after he refused the deal the police had offered him, which was informing law enforcement about his partners. At the time Hicks owned the record label, Romp Productions. Subsequently, Hicks wasn't released from prison until 1997.

Mac Dre was released from prison in 1997 and completed another album. A few weeks after his release some of his Vallejo homies decided to hold a home coming picnic for Dre. Seemingly the entire Bay Area showed up for the festivities. Among the 500 + guests were Vallejo's finest who claimed that they had received reports about folks drag racing.. Rocks and bottles were thrown at the police and some sort of riot broke out resulting in major news coverage for the event. Apparently the entire park was torn up..

Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

J-Diggs, a member of the Romper Room crew and accompanying friend of Dre to Fresno, stated Dre had nothing to do with any robberies and was convicted for a refusal to give information to police: "All they wanted out of Dre was to say, 'Yeah, I knew they was going to rob a bank. I didn't have nothing to do with it.' He could've went home, but he kept his mouth shut. Out of the crew, Dre is the only person I can say went to prison for nothing, for basically not telling on nobody."

While in Lompoc, Mac Dre would go on to obtain his G.E.D; he stated that, "I had nothing else to do, I had to go back and get mine".

During his time in prison, "Mac Dre Presents: The Rompalation" was released in 1996.

After his release from prison in 1997, he recorded his second album Stupid Doo Doo Dumb. It was released April 28, 1998. Following those albums, Hicks met with Executive Producer Bernard Gourley and recorded the album Rapper Gone Bad with production help from Tone Cappone, Lev Berlak, and Warren G. He worked with well-known artists such as J-Diggs, Keak da Sneak, E-40, B-Legit, Brotha Lynch Hung, Dubee, Mistah F.A.B., Rydah J. Klyde, Richie Rich, Lil Ric, San Quinn, Mars,Yukmouth, PSD, Andre Nickatina, Mac Mall, Smoov-E (aka Eli Meltzer), Messy Marv, and Too Short. He also provided an uncredited hook to the track "Gotta Survive" from Young Lay's Black 'N Dangerous album that featured 2Pac.

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On November 1, 2004, on a freeway in Kansas City, Missouri, an unknown assailant began shooting at a vehicle in which Hicks was a passenger. The driver crashed and was able to get to a phone to call 911, but Hicks was pronounced dead at the scene from a bullet wound. There have been no leads as to the perpetrator, and the case currently remains unsolved. Hicks was buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland. In 2006, his tombstone was stolen from the cemetery.

RIP Andre (MAC DRE) Hicks

Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

Fat Tone Slipping In LAS VEGAS the undisputed king of the Crest for more than a decade was Andre Hicks, better known as Mac Dre, a pioneer of Bay Area independent rap who scored his first underground hit in 1989 with "2 Hard 4 the Fuckin' Radio." A prolific artist with more than 20 releases – the vast majority released after 1996 on his own Thizz Entertainment/Romp Records label – the 34-year-old Mac Dre had already dropped three solo albums in 2004 and was more popular than ever when he was murdered on Nov. 1 that year, in a Kansas City highway shooting.

"Dre loved his neighborhood," his friend and fellow Crestsider PSD told me earlier. "He loved people. As a result, people loved him."

The list of Bay Area rappers killed by gun fire is a long one indeed from the most famous Tupac Shakur to local legends like Plan Bee of Hobo Junction, Rappin' Ron of Bad Influenz, and Eclipse of Cydal,The CRESTSIDE alone lost Michael "the Mac" Robinson was fatally shot in 1991. Cecil "DJ Cee" Allison – a local mainstay who worked with both Macs – was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1995. Both incidents Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance © 2014

occurred in Vallejo, and both were reportedly cases of mistaken identity. In fact, with the exception of Shakur, none of the rappers mentioned above was an actual target – they were instead victims of proximity or mis identification, and the availability of firearms.

Dre's murder is different, however, as he was definitely the intended target of a hit, according to Kansas City police detective Everett Babcock, lead investigator in the case.

"They knew who they were after," he says in a phone interview from Kansas City. Over the past year, Babcock has been piecing together a picture of the crime in terms of suspects and motives, though he cautioned it could take years before conclusive evidence comes to light. While he couldn't divulge details due to the ongoing nature of the case, he would confirm that his investigation turned up no evidence of any criminal activity on Mac Dre's part.

Police investigators say Hicks, 34, was shot in a financial dispute, but the rumor mill said something sexier: that a West-Midwest rap war had flared and that a notorious Kansas City rapper dubbed "Fat Tone" had taken out Hicks. In the world of hip-hop, Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

Mac Minister police say, bad blood often means good business.

Six months later, police say, a San Francisco rap promoter nicknamed "Mac Minister" and a friend avenged Hicks in Las Vegas by firing 33 assault-rifle rounds into two Kansas City men -- including Anthony "Fat Tone" Watkins.

The two San Francisco men were indicted on murder charges early this month. Two days later, a 21-year-old call girl who was in Las Vegas with them turned up dead in Fairfield, shot in the head.

Kansas City police Detective Everett Babcock, who cleared "Fat Tone" Watkins in Hicks' death, feared that rumors following the shooting might turn deadly.

The saga began quietly, in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, 2004, as Hicks rode in a white van driven by a friend through Kansas City. He had been performing in the city, and he and other Bay Area rappers enjoyed second-home popularity there.

Hicks, who grew up in Vallejo's hardscrabble Country Club Crest neighborhood, first gained radio airplay as a teenager with a song titled, ironically, "2 Hard 4 the (expletive) Radio." He had long been the subject of rap world rumors. His mother, Wanda Salvatto, said she'd heard about her son's death at least three times before.

Despite serving a five-year prison sentence for conspiracy to commit bank robbery, Hicks was no thug, his mother said. His problems were behind him when he was killed, Salvatto said, and he talked about mentoring teenagers to keep them flying straight. He had recently moved to Sacramento and owned a record label.

Still, as his driver moved through Kansas City in the dark a year ago, a stolen black Infiniti G36 pulled alongside and someone opened fire, police said. The van swerved across a grass median and four freeway lanes, then crashed into a ditch.

Detective Babcock said the investigation was hampered early by the reluctance of Hicks' Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

MAC MINISTER travel companions to cooperate. Some, when approached, even pretended they didn't know Hicks. But it wasn't long before rumors started to fly about a rap war -- and "Fat Tone" Watkins.

Fat Tone was a large figure, literally and figuratively. After he was shot and wounded in 2003, when he was 22, his next album cover showed him sitting up in a hospital gurney flashing a middle finger. He was "Fat Tone the Untouchable." He was once arrested in the killing of a pregnant woman, although the charges were dropped.

"Every shooting that happened (in Kansas City), you would get calls saying, 'Fat Tone did it, Fat Tone did it.' His name always came up," Babcock said. But when it came to Hicks' death, he said, the rumor had legs.

Soon after Hicks' slaying, Watkins was summoned to Kansas City's police headquarters for an interview. "I told him we expected retribution," Babcock recalled. "He said, 'I'm Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

watching myself.' " Several months later, Watkins denied in a rap song that he had killed Hicks, but "the rumor was that he admitted it," Babcock said. Early on May 23, a security guard found the body of the 24-year-old Watkins in a housing development under construction in southwest Las Vegas. He'd been shot about 20 times and was slumped over the front seats of a blue 1992 Toyota Tercel, according to grand jury testimony. A few feet away, 22-year-old Jermaine Akins-- a friend who was a fugitive from federal cocaine-selling charges -- also lay dead after being shot 13times.

At the time of the killing, San Francisco promoter Andre "Mac Minister" Dow, his friend Jason Mathis and call girl Lee Danae Laursen were in Las Vegas, according to police.

Mathis had rented a house less than five blocks from the murder scene. Dow was with his 28-year-old girlfriend. Laursen, who came from the small town of Payson near Provo, Utah, might have been turning tricks for Mathis, police said.

Slaying victims Watkins and Akins were in Las Vegas for a Snoop Dogg concert at the Palms and were staying at the MGM Grand. According to Las Vegas police Detective Todd Hendrix, Watkins told his mother and girlfriend that Dow had promised him a meeting with Snoop Dogg.

Just hours before the killings, Hendrix said, MGM Grand cameras recorded Dow leaving the hotel with Watkins and Akins. He believes the victims were driven to the neighborhood where they were killed roughly 80 minutes later.

According to Mathis' arrest warrant, he later admitted to a friend that he had shot Watkins and Akins to avenge Hicks' killing. Mathis "said he shot Watkins, then chased Akins into the street and shot him while he was on the ground pleading for his life," the warrant alleged.

The Toyota Tercel, investigators now say, had been given to Dow's girlfriend by a Berkeley activist, a woman who once was her teacher. The car even bore a "Bush Lost" bumper sticker. Meanwhile, another car -- a white Pontiac Sunfire -- was spotted speeding away from the scene.

A day later, a white 2000 Pontiac Sunfire convertible was found burning in Vallejo. The registered owner: Lee Danae Laursen.

Laursen's father has told police that his daughter was forced into prostitution by Mathis, who "would escort her into various Las Vegas hotels hiding an AK-47 under his clothing," according to Mathis' arrest warrant. The father told police that he rescued his daughter once, in the month before the killing, but that she voluntarily returned to Las Vegas.There, Laursen was seen in a gun shop nine days before the killing, where she bought ammunition similar to that used to kill Watkins and Akins, according to grand jury testimony.

Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

On the night of Nov. 4, Fairfield police officers went to a quiet neighborhood after residents reported hearing gunfire. Laursen was pronounced dead at the scene from a head wound. A dark-colored SUV was seen speeding away. Soon, Mathis' Saturn sedan, which Laursen had been driving, turned up burning in Richmond, said Fairfield police Lt. Tony Shipp.

"She had information that could be very damaging," Hendrix said. "The timing of it is uncanny."

In all the killing of bay Area legend Mac Dre at least 3 more kilings stretching from the Bay Area to Las Vegas Anthony "Fat Tone" Watkins The Kansas City rapper, 24, was shot 20 times. His body was found May 23 in an unfinished housing development in Las Vegas.

Jermaine Akins The 22-year-old friend of Watkins was shot 13 times. He was found near Watkins' body.

Andre "Mac Minister"Dow The 35-year-old rap promoter was indicted Nov. 2 in Las Vegas on murder charges stemming from the deaths of Watkins and Akins.

Jason Mathis The 26-year-old friend of Dow also was charged in the deaths of Watkins and Akins.

Lee Danae Laursen The 21-year-old prostitute - a possible witness to the killings of Watkins and Akins was shot and killed Nov. 4 in Fairfield.

Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

Once Mac Dre was released from prison in the late 90s his independently released CDs still sold around 30,000 units, with the occasional disc selling more than 60,000 copies, according to SoundScan reports. When he started getting hot again after the Treal T.V. (2003) DVD, he was was warming up in the Bay and just when he was it seems about to blow up he was murdered.

Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

J Diggs Of Mac Dre's Thizz Entertainment Thizz Entertainment’s a San Francisco Bay Area-based, independent record label, started as Romp Records in 1996 by rapper Mac Dre. When Dre moved to Sacramento in 1999, he changed the label's name to Thizz Entertainment to avoid implying a connection to the Romper Room Gang.[1] Dre thought the name Thizz perfectly expressed how it felt when you were high on ecstasy which was becoming popular in the Bay Area hip hop scene. When, on November 1, 2004, Mac Dre was shot and killed after a performance in Kansas City,Missouri, Dre's business partners Miami tha Mostand Curtis "Kilo Curt" Nelson took over the label, and added J-Diggs (Jamal Diggs), also Mac Mall as coowner.The label's base of operations was then moved back to the Bay Area or in Andrew's house as part of NSF. The label is known for producing "Thizz music". Thizz Entertainment has been fundamental in the growth and popularity of the Bay Area hyphy movement.

Over sixty artists have released albums through Thizz Entertainment and its various divisions.Thizz sells their CDs via local distribution and on the Internet and markets them largely by word of mouth. They offer the benefit of the label's name recognition to artists who otherwise might not be able to successfully push a record.In 2007 they diversified, adding imprints: Thizz South, Thizz Latin, and Thizz Northwest.

Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014

Mac Mall The label legal issues began in 2010 rapper J-Hype (Joel Williams) was shot and robbed at Mac Dre's birthday party, around His Thizz Nation chain was stolen following two shots to his leg. Williams was convicted of human trafficking in 2013. On February 18, 2011, Zoe tha Roasta, won a $300K lawsuit alleging the Oakland Police Department, in 2006, wrongfully arrested and jailed him for a crime he was not involved in. In November 2011, Killa Keise was shot and killed.

And then in 2012 Vallejo-Based Rappers Arrested as Part of Major Investigation of Drug Trafficking Throughout the United States U.S. Attorney’s Office April 24, 2012 SACRAMENTO, CA—A number of arrests have occurred in a major federal investigation into drug trafficking throughout the country, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, agents arrested a total of 25 individuals in Vallejo, Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance © 2014

Stockton, Fairfield, Oakland, Los Angeles, New York, and Oklahoma City. Some of those arrested are Vallejo-based rappers and associates of an entertainment label known as Thizz Entertainment.

Vallejo Police Chief Robert Nichelini stated, “This is another example of partnership that exists between the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Vallejo Police Department to improve the safety of our community and reduce the level of violence associated with drug dealing. We appreciate the efforts of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California in coordinating the investigation and prosecuting the persons involved in such a complex and dangerous criminal enterprise.”

During the investigation, agents seized approximately 45,000 MDMA pills, approximately four pounds of crack cocaine, a half-pound of heroin, and $200,000 in suspected drug proceeds. Agents also forfeited 230 acres of property valued at approximately $1 million as part of the investigation. As part of last Thursday’s takedown, agents executed three federal search warrants and seized approximately five pounds of marijuana, a loaded firearm, a 2010 Audi A6 with an estimated value of $60,000, and an Audi S5 with an estimated value of $50,000. Agents seized $67,238 in Vallejo and $6,831 in Sacramento for a total of $74,069 during the service of the federal search warrants.

According to the criminal complaints, the DEA-led investigation uncovered a network of drug distributors working in the Crest neighborhood of Vallejo, along with individuals transporting large quantities of drugs outside of California to realize a larger profit. A number of the subjects of the investigation performed as rappers under the entertainment label known as Thizz Entertainment. The origins of Thizz Entertainment can be traced back to the notorious Vallejo-based robbery crews known as the Romper Room Gang.

The primary activities of the Romper Room Gang included armed bank robberies, drug trafficking, and murder. The Romper Room Gang was active throughout the late 1980s and 1990s. However, as a result of Vallejo police investigations with the assistance from federal law enforcement, many Romper Room Gang members were convicted of federal crimes and incarcerated for several years in the state and federal prison systems.

Some of the individuals charged in the criminal complaint are alleged to be former members of the Romper Room Gang. According to the complaint, Thizz Entertainment started in 1999 as a record label promoting and producing rap artists from the San Francisco Bay Area, primarily from the Crest neighborhood of their hometown of Vallejo. The name Thizz Entertainment originates from the term “thizz,” which is slang Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance © 2014

for the drug MDMA (also known as ecstasy). In many songs by artists on the Thizz Entertainment label, the lyrics glorify and promote the use and distribution of MDMA pills.

The complaint alleges that the targets of this investigation engaged in large-scale drug trafficking while also releasing rap albums under the Thizz Entertainment label. During the conspiracy, agents uncovered trafficking of MDMA, cocaine, cocaine base, heroin, Oxycodone, and marijuana, in violation of federal law. The complaint details drug shipments sent from the Vallejo area to Oklahoma City; Jamaica; Queens, New York; Atlanta; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The following individuals were charged with multiple counts of drug trafficking in the two federal criminal complaints: Michael Lott, performs under the name “Miami the Most” *Major Norton, performs under the name “Dubee” *Lawrence Kennedy Nelson Gaylord Franklin, performs under the name “Geezy” Clifford Bullock *Narco McFarland, Sr. Latroy Cunningham *Eric Robinson Dante Barbarin Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance © 2014

*Eileen Knight Beshiba Cook Bruce Thurmon, performs under the name “Little Bruce” Damian Peterson Mikel Brown **Nicholas Ramirez *Ung Duong *Phat Nguyen *Marcus Davis **Tiffany Brown Andre Cawthorne *Michael Smiley *Anthony Young *Anthony Payton

Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance © 2014

*Arrested and detained in custody except where noted released. **Arrested and released.

A preliminary hearing has been set for May 4, 2012.

This case is the product of an extensive investigation by the DEA Sacramento District Office, the Vallejo Police Department, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department, and the Sacramento FBI Safe Streets Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Jason Hitt is prosecuting the case.

This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).

The OCDETF program was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multi-level attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s drug supply.

When prosecuted in federal court, drug traffickers typically receive much harsher sentences. In addition to the longer sentences imposed, unlike state court prisoners who are released early on parole, there is no early release on parole in the federal system.

The charges are only allegations. Each of the defendants listed is presumed innocent, unless and until proven guilty.

After this news reached Mac Dre's mother,Wanda Salvatto, she denied any involvement to the press. Wanda stated, "I worked very hard to clean up and maintain a legitimate label and business for my son. I don't want to confuse what we do with our fans", and that the DEA was investigating part of an offshoot label, called Thizz Nation.On June 10, 2013, J-Diggs was arrested on drug charges.

The charges are only allegations. Each of the defendants listed is presumed innocent, unless and until proven guilty.

Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance © 2014

Epilogue I personally feel that there is some good and bad to these stories the obvious bad is the robbing,drug dealing and loss of life but the good thing was the example set by Mac Dre,Khayree and other independent black record label owners. They showed that young black brothers could sale thousands of units of there own created products without the help of major music labels and that young black brothers can be successful businessmen if they put there mind to it.

Jimmy Digital True Crime Files Volume II

Bay Area True Crime Chronicles All Rights Reserved James E Nance Š 2014