A Los Angeles gang member with a long criminal history received a 35-year federal prison sentence Wednesday, federal officials said.
A jury convicted Marquis “Tiny Looney” Shaw, 43, of South Los Angeles, last year of three counts of drug dealing, including distributing crack cocaine near schools, the U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Thom Mrozek said in a written statement. Prosecutors described him as a “prominent member” of the Five-Duece Broadway Gangster Crips, which claims territory in South Los Angeles and Downtown L.A., as well as a member of a “hit squad” within the gang.
“Although the jury did not convict Shaw of racketeering charges, Judge (S. James) Otero at Wednesday’s sentencing hearing determined that the evidence presented at the trial established that Shaw was responsible for two slaying,” according to the statement.
Shaw pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter following the 2003 sooting death of a man outside the former House of Blues in West Hollywood, authorities said. He also has past convictions for assault with a deadly weapon, assault with a firearm, being a felon in possession of a firearm and drug charges stemming from two separate cases.
Co-defendent Joshua “Tiny Ange” Perez, 26, of Los Angeles was convicted of racketeering and drug trafficking conspiracy charges, Mrozek said. “(He) admitted participating in a murder that Shaw supervised.”
That killing took place in Hyde Park in 2012, according to Mrozek.
A third defendant in the case, 55-year-old Anthony “Big Toon” Ingram, 55, of Los Angeles, was convicted of drug charges, officials said.
Shaw was among 72 defendants names in a 2014 RICO indictment targeting the gang.
“All 72 of the defendants charges in the case have been convicted by guilty plea or at trial,” Mrozek added. “All but six of the defendants have been sentenced.”
Shaw’s prison term is the longest given out in the case so far.
The multi-year investigation was known as “Operation Gremlin Riderz,” Mrozek explained. The hit squad Shaw allegedly belonged to was known as the “Gremlins.”
The operation was carried out by the FBI and Los Angeles Police Department, with help from other law enforcement agencies from throughout Southern California.
