Man convicted in 7-Eleven shooting

Molly Ball

Friday, Oct. 8, 2004 | 9:48 a.m.

A member of the Rolling 60s Crips gang was found guilty Thursday afternoon of federal racketeering crimes related to a shooting at a convenience store in January.

The jury deliberated for about nine hours on Wednesday and Thursday before convicting Leland "Lee-Macc" Banks in the trial that began Monday. Banks could be sentenced to anywhere from 20 to 60 years in prison and up to $750,000 in fines for the five felonies.

Banks, 29, was convicted of attempted murder and assault, two violent crimes connected to racketeering, plus three firearm counts for shooting at a rival gang member sniper-style from the roof of a building across the street from the 7-Eleven on Sierra Vista Drive and Cambridge Street.

Prosecutors said Banks fired six shots from a .22-caliber weapon at Kenny "Stay High" Gilmore because Gilmore had showed him disrespect. By the rules of the gang's code, Banks had to retaliate, prosecutors said.

Banks is one of 42 defendants who have been indicted from the Rolling 60s gang, federal prosecutors said. Twenty-two of them have pleaded guilty, but prosecutors said this was the first guilty verdict by a jury in the cases.

U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said his office "has made it a high priority to aggressively prosecute those individuals who engage in acts of violence and drug trafficking for the purpose of earning a profit and controlling the marketplace and territory."

Of the 22 defendants in the main case, seven have pleaded guilty and the rest are awaiting trial. Banks is one of the 20 charged in the related cases; of the remaining 19, 14 have been convicted and sentenced, two have been acquitted, and the others have not yet been tried.