Crip ordered to serve multiple life sentences by federal judge

Thirty-four year old Jamal Shakir of Los Angeles, California was sentenced earlier this week to multiple life sentences following the May 2008 conviction on charges of multiple murders, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and of being a kingpin of a violent gang rooted interstate drug trafficking organization.

The federal government urged the death penalty, but Shakir’s life was spared. The trial spanned eight months. Senior U. S. District Judge John Nixon presided over the trial. He sentenced Shakir to sixteen life sentences to be followed by an additional nine consecutive life sentences for the murders and other felonies. Nixon also imposed a $3,000,000.00 forfeiture verdict on each of three counts, totaling $9,000,000.00.

In the first phase of the trial, Shakir was found guilty of running a continuing criminal enterprise which distributed in excess of one-hundred fifty kilograms of powder cocaine, along with large amounts of crack and marijuana. Evidence presented at trial showed that Shakir was a member of the Rolling 90’s Crips, a violent street gang originating from South Central Los Angeles. He is accused of recruiting other Crips and individuals to take part in drug trafficking in and around, Los Angeles, Nashville, Memphis, Oklahoma City, and other metropolitan areas around the country.

The jury’s verdict in the first phase of the trial found the defendant guilty of running a continuing criminal enterprise which distributed over 150 kilograms of cocaine as well as large amounts of crack cocaine and marijuana. Evidence at trial established that Shakir was a member of the Rollin’ 90s Crips based in Los Angeles, and that he recruited members of that street gang, as well as others, to be part of a violent drug trafficking business which operated in Los Angeles, Nashville, Memphis, and Oklahoma City, as well as other cities.

The jury found the following:

• Nine murders were committed by the defendant, his co-conspirators or as part of the defendant’s criminal enterprise between 1994 & 1997
• Three of the murder victims were killed to prevent them from cooperating with law enforcement
• Shakir caused another person to travel in interstate commerce from Nashville to Oklahoma City to commit a crime of violence, resulting in a double murder & the shooting of a 3-year old in both elbows

The child who was shot in the elbows was found in a home in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with the decomposing bodies of her mother and the mother’s boyfriend. She had been trapped in the residence with them and forced to drink toilet water to survive.

The nine murder victims are identified as:

• Richard Chambers (murdered in Cheatham County, Tennessee on August 29, 1994)
• Solomon Harris (murdered in Los Angeles, California on September 29, 1995)
• Sharon Duran (murdered in Los Angeles, California on December 13, 1995)
• Anthony Rogers (murdered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on July 20, 1996)
• Shannon Walker (murdered in Los Angeles on October 3, 1996)
• Kenard Murry (murdered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on January 23, 1997)
• Regina Suetopka (murdered in Oklahoma City on January 23, 1997)
• Barney Moten (murdered in Los Angeles, California on February 21, 1997)
• Woody Pilcher (murdered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on August 2, 1997)

Along with the murder convictions, the jury also found the defendant guilty of using juveniles in his drug trafficking business, using and carrying firearms during drug trafficking and violent crimes, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and other crimes. The jury also found that other victims were abducted, assaulted, and threatened as part of the defendant’s interstate criminal enterprise.

Donnell Wood and Eben Payne are co-conspirators who face the same charges.