All but one 4-Nation gang defendant has been found. Accused second-in-command still sought
One has become the number of the moment in the prosecution of the Erie street gang 4-Nation.
Another arrest has left only one defendant still at large in the 58-defendant case that originated with an indictment in federal court in Erie nearly a year ago.
The latest defendant taken into custody is Dazerion J. Hinton, known as Bobby. He was one of the three defendants who was not arrested around the time the indictment was returned on May 30 and unsealed on June 8.
Erie police and the FBI arrested Hinton, 25, shortly before 12:30 a.m. on Sunday near East Fifth and Wayne streets, according to arrest records.
Hinton was found three months after the arrest of another of the three defendants who had been at large — Lamont D. Warren, 25, known as Mont-G. Erie police took him into custody the night of Feb. 14 near East 18th and Parade streets.
Sunday's arrest of Hinton means the lone defendant still at large in the the 4-Nation case is Dajean D. Williams, 29, known as Spank. He is accused of being the second-in-command of 4-Nation, which the U.S. Attorney's Office alleges trafficked in large amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl and other illegal drugs for a decade.
First 22 defendants are accused of being in 4-Nation
The case is the largest-ever criminal prosecution in federal court in Erie. It is also the first case in federal court in Erie in which the U.S. Attorney's Office brought charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, the federal law used to target the mob and other organized crime operations.
The 58 defendants fall into two categories.
The first 22 are accused of being members of 4-Nation. They are each charged with a RICO count — on allegations that the gang was a criminal enterprise that distributed illegal drugs and engaged in other crimes — and a charge that they conspired to traffic in the illegal drugs.
Like Williams, Warren is accused of being a member of 4-Nation. He is listed 22nd in the indictment, making him the last of the 22 defendants in the case who are accused of being gang members.
Hinton is listed 36th in the indictment and is not accused of being a gang member. The last 36 defendants are accused of conspiring to traffic in illegal drugs, with some alleged to have been associated with the 4-Nation defendants. Some of the defendants are also accused of weapons offenses.
Warren and Hinton have pleaded not guilty. Hinton entered his plea at his arraignment on Monday before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard A. Lanzillo. Hinton waived a detention hearing and will stay in prison pending prosecution, according to court records. Warren waived a detention hearing at his arraignment in February, and he is also in prison.
Nearly a third of defendants have pleaded guilty or are about to
The FBI in November asked for the public's help in locating Williams, Hinton and Warren, and asked anyone with information on the fugitives to call the agency's Pittsburgh office at 412-432-4000. As the search for the three went on, the prosecution of the other defendants has proceeded.
A total of 17 of the defendants — about 30% — have pleaded guilty or arranged to plead guilty to charges in the case, according to court records. Three of those defendants have been sentenced.
Several other defendants are in negotiations with the U.S. Attorney's Office to reach plea deals, their lawyers told U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter at a status conference on March 28. Baxter at the conference said the trial would occur in January 2025, and she set June 28 as the deadline for filing pretrial motions.
How many other defendants will plead guilty is expected to become clearer once the pretrial motions are filed.
The lead defendant in the case is Davante Q. Jones, 31, known as Smoov. He is accused of being the head of 4-Nation when he lived in Erie. He has pleaded not guilty and had been incarcerated since he was arrested at his residence in Orlando, Florida, on June 8, the day the indictment was unsealed.
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies used wiretaps, cooperating witnesses, homemade online music videos and other evidence to develop the case against Jones and the other defendants.
As part of the 4-Nation probe, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies seized 19.2 pounds of methamphetamine; 180,018 fentanyl pills; 5.22 kilograms of cocaine, or about 11.5 pounds; 4.9 kilograms of fentanyl powder, or about 11 pounds; 709.5 grams of fentanyl-related drugs, or about 25 ounces; several pounds of marijuana, 33 guns and $235,151 in cash.
Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com or 814-870-1813. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie police, FBI close to arresting all 4-Nation drug gang defendants
