LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Eight people are behind bars in connection with the
probe of a Compton street gang that allegedly sold marijuana and illicit
prescription drugs in the region and out of state, prosecutors said today.
Two criminal complaints filed last week in U.S. District Court in Los
Angeles charge 15 defendants with distributing narcotics, some of which were
sold in Ohio and Louisiana, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
During the 2 1/2-year investigation, authorities seized more than a ton
of marijuana and thousands of prescription pills that had been diverted to the
black market, officials said.
The case focuses on two drug trafficking rings that allegedly have links
to a gang called the Front Hoods Crips. Authorities identified Deverick
Mathis as the head of one group and Dion Grim as the head of the other.
Federal prosecutors allege Mathis’ operation had ties to Ohio, where
some members of his organization sold narcotics. Mathis and four others
allegedly connected to the case are in federal custody, officials said.
Grim allegedly controlled marijuana sales at a house on West Stockwell
Street in Compton, federal prosecutors said.
The Grim organization allegedly had operatives in Louisiana who sold Xanax and
other prescription pills, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Authorities today arrested Grim and two others charged in the case,
officials said.
All 15 defendants named in the complaints are charged with conspiring to
distribute narcotics, a charge that carries a potential penalty of 20 years
in federal prison.
“The arrests conducted this week dealt a significant blow to this well-
established violent drug trafficking organization,” said Steven M. Martinez,
assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office.
Those charged in connection with the Grim organization are:
— Dion Grim, 35, of Carson, who was arrested this morning;
— Don Taylor, 32, of Compton, who allegedly oversaw day-to-day
operations at the West Stockwell house controlled by Grim and was arrested this
morning;
— Charles Edward Davis, 51, of Compton;
— Isaac Lawrence Sparrow, 29, of Louisiana, who has agreed to surrender
to authorities in Louisiana on Monday;
— Richard Earl Jennings, 33, of Los Angeles;
— Kenneth Dajaun Mitchell, 31, of Anaheim; and
— Chauntay Sharee Rouzan, 32, of Carson, who was arrested this morning.
Those charged in connection with the Mathis organization are:
— Deverick “Dog” Deshawn Mathis, 40, of La Habra, who was arrested
Thursday;
— Stephen Carr, 38, of Fontana, who was arrested Thursday;
— Marcus Dennis, 39, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio;
— Filberto Cardona Hernandez, 35, of Phoenix, Ariz.;
— Kiison Jordan, 34, of Long Beach, who was arrested Thursday;
— Hasaan Ali Simon, 45, of Granada Hills;
— Shontrice Crine James, 38, of La Habra, who is Mathis’ wife and who
was arrested Thursday; and
— Lakeisha Andrews, 39, of Los Angeles, who was arrested this morning.
