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U.S. Department of Justice PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Washington, D.C. - Larry Gooch, a self-appointed enforcer of the violent drug gang known as the M Street Crew, has been convicted of 26 counts of violent crimes and drug trafficking, including four murders and racketeering (RICO), U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor announced today.
On Friday, June 1, 2007, a federal jury sitting in the District of Columbia found Gooch, 27, formerly of the 1900 block of M Street, NE, Washington, D.C., guilty of the charges, which included the intentional murders of Yolanda Miller and Calvin Cooper on February 21, 2003, at 18th and M Streets, in aid of a racketeering enterprise. These crimes qualified Gooch for the death penalty, in part, because they were multiple murders in a single episode.
In October 2005, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty against Gooch, in accordance with a decision of the Attorney General. Gooch had been indicted for violation of federal laws involving a drug trafficking conspiracy, a racketeering enterprise, and for committing numerous racketeering related offenses, including drug distribution, murders, attempted murder of a police officer, and firearm offenses.
Following the guilty verdict, in accordance with federal law, the jury reconvened to consider the appropriateness of imposition of the death penalty. The Honorable Rosemary Collyer, who presided over the trial, instructed the jury that if they did not agree unanimously to impose the death penalty, that the court would have to impose a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Today, the jury rendered a verdict that rejected imposition of the death penalty, a decision which, in effect, requires the Court to sentence the defendant to a mandatory sentence of life without parole for the murders that were capital offenses. Judge Collyer thanked the jury for its lengthy service as the trial commenced January 9, 2007. The Court excused the jury, and although the decision today spares Gooch the death penalty on two of the murder convictions, he is scheduled for sentencing on September 14, 2007, on the remaining counts of conviction.
"We appreciate the jury's consideration and deliberation on this important issue, not to mention the entire case as a whole, and we respect its decision,” stated U.S. Taylor. “The defendant is a very dangerous individual. He will now serve the rest of his life in prison, which is a significant and positive result for the prosecution and our city."
Gooch was also convicted of the intentional murders of William Cunningham and Christopher Lane that occurred on August 1, 2000, inside of an apartment located at 4934 Foote Street, NE, Washington, D.C. Two other codefendants, Jonte Robinson and Tommy Dorsey, pled guilty to participating in the racketeering enterprise and the racketeering murder of Will Cunningham and Christopher Lane. They pled guilty, along with another member of the racketeering enterprise, Kenneth Dodd, during jury selection.
Gooch also faces maximum sentences of life in prison for his convictions of attempting to kill a Metropolitan Police Officer on November 8, 2002, again in aid of a racketeering enterprise. On November 8, 2002, the officer was in full uniform in a marked police car parked near Eddie Leonard’s restaurant near Bladensburg Road and 17th Street, NE, and was in the act of transporting a suspect, who had been arrested for a drug trafficking offense. Evidence at trial established that a member of the M Street Crew, informed Gooch that police were arresting one of his fellow crew members. Gooch said, “I’m not going to let them take my man!” He grabbed a .44 caliber handgun and fired multiple shots from a distance of about 35 feet to rear of the squad car occupied by the officer. One of the six bullets fired passed through the headrest narrowly missing Hoffman.
In addition to the murders and violent crimes for which he was convicted, Gooch faces possible sentences of life in prison without parole for conspiracy to distribute PCP, cocaine base (also known as crack cocaine) and ecstasy pills. He faces another possible maximum sentence of life in prison for participating in the racketeering conspiracy.
To date, over 30 members have been convicted for their roles as participants in the M Street Crew. According to the government’s evidence, the M Street Crew conducted a notorious PCP (phencyclidine), crack cocaine and ecstasy distribution ring that operated in the neighborhood of 18th and M Streets, NE, Washington, D.C. between 1997 and 2004. The prosecution remarked in closing arguments that the M Street Crew was a racketeering drug enterprise that had taken over the 18th and M Street neighborhood and turned it into their own private marketplace for drug trafficking.
The prosecution grew out of the investigative activities of a long-term FBI/MPD alliance called the Safe Streets Task Force. That task force targeted certain violent drug trafficking gangs in the District of Columbia and spent two years gathering the evidence against the M Street Crew and its members.
In announcing the jury’s verdict, U.S. Attorney Taylor specifically commended the actions of FBI Special Agent Richard Stallings and MPD Detective Joseph Sopata, who lead the investigative team. The Safe Streets Initiative was funded in part by the Baltimore Washington High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area as well as the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. In addition, the U.S. Attorney commended the two prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Darlene M. Soltys and John P. Dominguez, who presented the evidence during the long trial that resulted in the conviction of Larry Gooch.
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