Minnesota men sentenced on gang charges related to federal crackdown – LocalNews8.com

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota jury has convicted three alleged members of a Minneapolis street gang on charges stemming from what prosecutors say was a yearslong pattern of violence and murder. The charges are part of a crackdown announced in 2023 by federal gang suppression authorities that ensnared dozens of members or associates of two major Minneapolis gangs. Tuesday’s guilty verdict marks the first conviction in the federal operation involving the rare use of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute, also known as RICO. The anti-corruption law is used to tackle organized crime, and prosecutors compared the defendants’ actions to those of the mafia. The three men have said they acted in self-defense during violent confrontations and are not gang members.