DOJ drops case against alleged top MS-13 leader
The Department of Justice has withdrawn its case against a Virginia man it accused of being a leader of the MS-13 gang.
unbranded – Newsworthy
A man who federal prosecutors said is part of a nationwide “sprawling criminal enterprise” called the Almighty Vice Lords Nation was convicted Monday of an attack in the aid of racketeering at a Michigan prison.
Anthony Zigler, a member of the Conservative Vice Lords branch of the Almighty Vice Lords Nation, could face up to 20 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of violent crime in aid of racketeering, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
Federal prosecutors said that Zigler, who is known in the gang as “Footz” and “Vampire,” stabbed an inmate 15 times at a Michigan prison in 2017 to maintain or promote his status within the vice lords gang.
No information was available on whether the inmate survived the stabbing.
“Violent acts in furtherance of a criminal organization will not be tolerated in Detroit or in our prisons and will immediately result in delayed freedom, because you’re not going anywhere but back to prison . . . for an extended period of time,” Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive Detroit Special Agent in Charge James Deir said in the announcement.
The Almighty Vice Lords Nation is a criminal network that has “committed acts of violence, drug dealing, and other crimes, across the country,” federal prosecutors said. The Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, reported in 2021 that the gang also provides money to jailed members and preserves power through fear and intimidation.
The gang started in the 1960s in Chicago and has used branches to spread across the country, according to court papers. The branches are: Conservative Vice Lords, Traveling Vice Lords, Insane Vice Lords, Mafia Insane Vice Lords and Cicero Insane Vice Lords.
“A common symbol of the AVLN is the five-pointed star, which represents the fact that the Vice Lords belong to the ‘People Nation,’ an alliance of various street gangs including the Bloods, the Latin Kings, and Latin Counts,” according to court papers.
This is the department’s third trial stemming from a sweeping 40-person indictment that included charges for racketeering, murder, conspiracy and other crimes, the Justice Department said.
“The thorough and dedicated work of attorneys in our office combined with the detailed investigation done by our ATF and DPD partners convinced a jury to find a violent and dangerous gang member guilty of serious crimes. With this conviction, our community is safer. Our district’s approach to violent crime investigations and prosecutions works,” said Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Julie A. Beck, noting the Detroit Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives helped in the investigation.
Jury indicts 40 AVLN members in 2021
According to court papers, Zigler’s charge stems from the 40-person indictment that accuses members of the Almighty Vice Lords Nation of racketeering, conspiracy, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act violations, and drug and firearms crimes.
Federal prosecutors said in court papers that Zigler told a CVL leader in a July 2017 recorded phone call that he wanted to kill a prisoner identified as F.W. The inmate and Zigler were both jailed at a Michigan Department of Corrections facility. Days later, Zigler used a prison-made knife to stab the inmate 15 times in the head, neck and abdomen, puncturing the inmate’s lungs, prosecutors added.
Violence or threats of violence are how AVLN members maintain their power, according to court papers. Prosecutors wrote that a gang member approved of Zigler’s kill order.
“Members must follow orders from higher-ranked AVLN leaders,” federal prosecutors wrote. “AVLN literature requires that members must ‘never deny [an] order from [a] superior officer of this nation. You will carry it out immediately[.]’ This includes orders to commit violent acts like murder.”
They added that AVLN adheres to a strict chain of command and if someone falsifies the gang’s rank, they can face “a physical violation, up to and including death.” Kings and Princes rule the gang, while Universal Elites run sections of a city or area.
People are expected to serve in the gang until death, according to court papers.
Dier said that Zigler’s conviction proves that the “Almighty Vice Lord Nation has been crippled locally and nationally.”
In 2024, three people who federal agents called “the worst of the worst” were sentenced 60 to 70 years for RICO and witness intimidation charges, according to the Detroit Free Press. They were Detroit residents Terry Douglas, Schuyler Belew and Devun Baskerville. In 2023, three more high-ranking leaders of the gang were convicted of a RICO conspiracy, the Free Press reported. Those members were Kevin Fordham and Eddie Reid of Detroit and Martin Murff of Chicago. A jury acquitted Kenneth Johnson of his charges in the 2023 trial.
Thirty-three other members of the gang still have pending court cases, according to court papers.
Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at knurse@USATODAY.com. Follow her on X @KrystalRNurse, and on BlueSky @krystalrnuse.bsky.social.
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