The RICO Act isn't just for mob bosses anymore. The U.S. attorney's office has used it to charge 14 members of a Miramar-based chapter of the Bloods gang

Last spring, Miramar police picked up career criminal Earnest Copeland on felony gun charges.

Ever since, Copeland, 36, has been in jail awaiting trial, but investigators said it hasn't slowed his business.

Using his wife as an intermediary, Copeland has continued to run the Miramar chapter of the notorious Bloods gang, which is responsible for dozens of violent offenses, including attempted murder, kidnapping and extortion, the U.S. attorney's office said Tuesday.

Copeland and 13 other high-level members of the Bloods have been charged with racketeering under the RICO Act, which is a tool created more than three decades ago to battle the mob.

A FIRST

This is the first time U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta has used RICO -- the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute -- to go after alleged gang members.

''RICO is used to go after criminal enterprises,'' Acosta said at a press conference announcing the indictment Tuesday. ``A gang is just that. It is a criminal enterprise. It has a hierarchy. It operates like a business.''

The joint operation, which included help from Miramar police, the Broward Sheriff's Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Coast Guard, also resulted in the arrest of other high-level operatives of the Bloods' Miramar chapter, or set.

The indictment named Earnest and Sharlene Copeland, 33; Raymond Edward Desinor, 24; Alfred Jerome Allen, 23; Alden Bert Budhoo, 29; Randolph Dercival Barrow, 20; Michael M. Petty, 19; Omeal Anthony Lee, 22; Willie Lee Ellis, 18; Jeffrey Byrd Jr., 20; Amr Kahlil Ramson, 24; Linus S. Bridgelal, 19; Tyrone Doolam, 21, and Daquan Thomas, 20.

Additionally, alleged gang member Raeshoun Lavi Washington was charged with robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery. It is unclear if he is a member of the Bloods or some other gang in South Florida.

The RICO Act allows authorities to prosecute any person who commits multiple crimes with a similar purpose or results -- more specifically, for money. The penalty is up to 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fine per count.

While the influence of La Cosa Nostra has waned in recent years, gang activity -- particularly in South Florida -- has been on the rise.

Last year, federal authorities in South Florida prosecuted 307 alleged gang members, up from 224 in 2006.

''Almost every day in South Florida, we witness the deadly consequences of gang and gang-related violence,'' Acosta said. ``Gang violence spills into our neighborhoods, killing innocent victims, destroying entire families and poisoning the future and the welfare of our children.''

OTHER CASES

While this is the first time Acosta's office used RICO against gang members, his counterparts across the country have employed it with relative success.

Last September, the leader of the notorious MS-13 gang in Maryland was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted in federal court on racketeering charges.

Likewise, members of the Vineyard Boys -- a San Fernando Valley, Calif., gang believed to be responsible for the shooting death of a police officer -- also went to prison on RICO charges.

In this particular Bloods gang, Miramar police began noticing a pattern in their investigation of various crimes and felt reaching out to the U.S. attorney's office was the best approach, said Chief Mel Standley.

''I would love to be able to say that we took down the entire Bloods gang organization, but I can't say that,'' Standley added. ``There are others in South Florida and others around the state.''

It is believed the Bloods' rival street gang, the Crips, also have a presence in South Florida.


http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/398977.html