A federal grand jury has indicted 11 alleged members of the Minneapolis Lows gang. Prosecutors say the defendants are responsible for a series of murders and attempted murders over the past three years against rivals. The indictments unsealed Wednesday are the latest in an anti-gang campaign waged by the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office.

All of the men are reputed associates of the Lows gang that generally operates in north Minneapolis, south of W. Broadway Avenue. All 11 are charged with conspiracy to racketeering. Most also face other charges, including drug conspiracy and firearm murder.

U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said the defendants are connected to seven shootings involving 10 victims, five of whom died. He said that “the information we have received from gang members and other members of the community” indicated that the group was particularly violent.

The indictment lists crimes dating back to May 2021, when Albert Jerome Lucas, 20, allegedly shot a member of a rival group at a gas station on West Broadway. The most recent incident occurred in February, when Lucas and another defendant, Victor Mortar Collins, 22, allegedly opened fire near Chicago and Franklin avenues in south Minneapolis, killing one person and wounding three others.

Both cases were initially brought by the Hennepin County Prosecutor’s Office, but are being taken over by federal prosecutors. The indictment also includes two shootings from 2022 and three from 2023.

Nearly 80 alleged members of other gangs – Highs, Bloods, 10z and 20z – have been charged since May last year. About 40 of the defendants pleaded guilty, and earlier this month a federal jury in St. Paul convicted three members of the Bloods in connection with the murder of two rivals.

That case was a big victory for prosecutors because it was the first time in the law enforcement effort that a jury returned a racketeering conviction against a member of a Minneapolis street gang. Many others have pleaded guilty to racketeering charges, including Highs member Montez Brown, who received a nearly 20-year sentence in April.

Congress passed the RICO act in 1970 to target East Coast mafia families. Luger said it also applies to street gangs because it allows the government to go after criminal organizations by targeting the group as a whole. While it carries a higher burden of proof and more work for prosecutors, it can result in longer sentences compared to prosecuting the underlying crimes individually.

“You have to prove the general existence of a criminal enterprise, and then (that) these people were not only members of the enterprise or associated with it, but they participated to further the objectives and goals of the enterprise, which is here, shooting against rivals, arms trafficking and sale of fentanyl,” Luger said.

Luger noted that the anti-gang effort required the work of law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, ATF, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Minneapolis Police and the County Sheriff’s and Prosecutor’s Offices. Hennepin.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the impact is notable in an area of ​​the city that has historically had high levels of gang activity.

“In North Minneapolis, where the ups and downs have terrified people for years, the number of shooting victims so far this year is lower than the number of shooting victims in North Minneapolis, (in) the fourth district, at this time in 2019.,” O’Hara said.

Luger added that community members tell him they notice a difference in their neighborhoods, and that when suspected gang members are arrested, they sometimes ask if their arrest is part of the RICO effort.