They grew out of the Los Angeles Bloods gang as a subset named after a group of streets in Compton, Calif. Members spread throughout the country, with a division beginning in Maryland about nine years ago in the Washington County Detention Center in Hagerstown. Steve Willock was said to have led the gang's operations from prison; he was sentenced last month as part of this case to 25 years in prison.
People join gangs for varied reasons, researchers say. Some because it is what is expected - a family legacy; others because they have no family and are looking for brotherhood. Penix got caught up in it because there was something "lacking in her own heart," her attorney, Richard C. Bittner, told the judge. "She was missing a father; that led her to get involved with these men."
Penix was raised by her mother, who sat in the nearly empty courtroom yesterday. She was still trying to come to terms with what happened to her daughter, Bittner said.
Penix apologized for her actions but offered no explanation. Quarles recommended that she be placed in Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia so that her family, including her daughter who lives in Cumberland, would be close enough to visit regularly.
In an interview, Bittner called the sentence and RICO conviction "overreaching."
"This woman was a low-level young lady who really was taken advantage of by some corrupt, evil people," he said. "Now we have a disproportionate sentence because of it."
But Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said the sentence reflected the woman's crimes.
"The reason why we prosecuted her was not just because she distributed the crack cocaine but because of the evidence that she was an active member of the racketeering enterprise. In fact, she admitted that," he said. She reported to Willock and gave him money in addition to the drug dealing, according to the indictment.
Rosenstein's office has charged dozens of gang members with racketeering, including Maryland participants in the deadly MS-13 crime organization.
RICO
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970 is a federal law that allows for harsh penalties for members of criminal organizations. It was originally designed to bring down mafia members, but it was often used in the 1980s and 1990s in civil suits against white-collar professionals. Most recently, it has been used to target organized drug and street gang members.
