Gang member enters plea for weapons-related offenses

Jun. 14—A Toledo gang member released after serving less than a year of a four-to-six-year burglary sentence is headed back to prison after committing multiple shooting and weapons crimes since his release last year.

Edward Maddox, 26, a member of the Southside Gangster Disciple Folk street gang, entered Alford pleas — not admitting guilt, but conceding evidence sufficient for a conviction — Monday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court to charges across four felony cases

The charges included improperly discharging a firearm, failure to comply with a police officer's signal, participating in a criminal gang, and two counts of having weapons while under disability.

Additional charges of felonious assault, carrying concealed weapons, improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle, and aggravated possession of drugs will be dismissed when Common Pleas Judge Stacy Cook sentences him June 28.

Through a plea agreement with a negotiated sentence, prosecutors will recommend Maddox be sentenced to 10 years in prison — though he could face a maximum of 27 years behind bars. His driver's license could also be suspended for life.

In September, 2019, Maddox was sentenced to the four-to-six for two attempted burglary counts and one burglary offense. He was expected to be released on June 15, 2023, but was granted early release last June.

Toledo police responding to an Aug. 5 ShotSpotter alert in the 330 block of Elm Street found Maddox in possession of a loaded revolver although he was legally banned from possessing a firearm. He later posted $10,000 bond.

Months later on Oct. 30, Toledo police witnessed a vehicle speeding on Cherry Street and later run a Stop sign at Central and Franklin avenues. Police tried to pull over the vehicle, which Maddox was driving, but it fled at high speed on residential streets, according to Lucas County assistant prosecutor Maggie Koch.

During the pursuit, the occupants threw something from the car and police recovered a firearm in that area. The vehicle was later stopped in the 1600 block of Maywood Avenue, Ms. Koch said Monday.

Maddox again posted bond, records show.

Maddox got into an argument Nov. 18 with a clerk at the Gas and Go filling station at Cherry and Bancroft streets during which he pointed a gun at her and asked if glass separating them was bulletproof, Ms. Koch said. Maddox then went into the store's lot and fired at least one shot, triggering another ShotSpotter alert — and the bullet hit a vehicle stopped at the intersection.

When Maddox was again arrested, police found two 9-mm guns on the ground, one of which was matched to the shot that hit the vehicle, Ms. Koch said.

The prosecutor said the gas station is a borderline gang-turf location where rival gangs try to assert dominance. Further investigation, she said, identified Maddox through his multiple tattoos, jailhouse phone calls, and previous admissions during imprisonment as a member of one such gang — specifically Recc Squad — which is a subset of the Southside Gangster Disciples.

First Published June 14, 2021, 4:50pm