Gang members plead guilty to racketeering

Jace Radke

Friday, May 14, 2004 | 9:14 a.m.

Two members of the Rolling 60s street gang have pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges in connection with murders, robberies and drug operations that date back to 1992, according to federal prosecutors.

Antonio "Riddler" Givens, 34, and Freddie "Romeo" Prentiss, 34, both of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in a Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO). Twenty other alleged gang members are currently awaiting trial on violent crime and drug trafficking charges outlined in an 88-count indictment.

Givens entered his plea before U.S. District Judge James Mahan Thursday, also pleading guilty to one count of using a firearm in a crime of violence. Givens agreed to serve between 19 1/2 and 22 1/2 years in prison, according to his plea agreement.

Prentiss' Nov. 18 guilty plea was unsealed on Thursday, and he is facing up to life in prison.

Originally, 21 alleged members of the Rolling 60s, a gang affiliated with the Crips, a highly organized and violent West Coast gang, were indicted in August. A superseding indictment filed on March 23 added additional charges and a 22nd defendant.

Along with murder the indictments charge operating "drug houses," dealing crack cocaine, transporting a minor across state lines for prostitution and arson.

Some of the criminal activities that members of the Rolling 60s are being charged with include:

The December 1997 killing of taxicab driver Billy Rex Traver in North Las Vegas. Traver, 57, was shot to death inside his North Las Vegas Cab Co. taxi after being robbed.

The September 2001 slaying of Patrick Hawkins, 34, and Adrian Williams, 23, in an apartment near Interstate 15 and West Owens Avenue. The two men were shot to death and cocaine was stolen from them, according to the indictment.

The May 2002 killing of Ernest Williams, 20, near the Texas Station in North Las Vegas. Shots were fired into Williams car from another car.

A July 2002 attempted robbery of the Gold Strike casino in downtown Las Vegas. While brandishing guns, gang members attempted to force their way into the casino's cashier cage, but only got away with $5 from a worker, according to the indictment.

The August 2001 transportation of a girl under the age of 18 from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City for prostitution.

Givens admitted in court documents that the Rolling 60s made money selling crack cocaine, and controlled the drug traffic in West Las Vegas, an area bordered by downtown to the southeast and Martin Luther King Boulevard and Carey Avenue to the northwest.

Givens admitted to a May 3, 1995, robbery of an Albertson's at 3864 W. Sahara Ave.; a May 24, 1995, robbery of the Ambassador Hotel at 916 E. Fremont St.; and the Gold Strike robbery, officials with the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Prentiss admitted in his plea agreement that he was considered a leader in the Rolling 60s and sold more than 104 grams of crack cocaine on four occasions.

Although the indictment includes 88 counts, only the charges relating to the killings of Hawkins and Williams were a part of a gang war that saw dozens of shootings in the general area of Martin Luther King and Carey in 2001.

The gang war between the Rolling 60s and another gang, the Gerson Park Kingsmen, stretched from January 2001 into the fall of that year with shootings peppering the borders of the jurisdictions of North Las Vegas Police and Metro.

Givens is scheduled to be sentenced on August 9 by Mahan, and Prentiss is scheduled to be sentenced the same day before U.S. District Court Judge Larry Hicks.

The other 20 codefendants are scheduled for a hearing to check the status of the case on June 22.