A third member of the Four Corner Hustlers pleaded guilty Wednesday in advance of a sweeping street gang trial next month.
Marchello Devine joined Deandre Spann and Rontrell Turnipseed in pleading guilty to a racketeering conspiracy, court records show. In his plea agreement, Devine acknowledged participating in the gang as early as the mid-1990s.
However, the document revealed a dispute as to whether Devine participated in an attempted murder in August 2012.
Devine’s guilty plea Wednesday — and Spann’s guilty plea last week — seemed to occur with no public notice. Turnipseed also pleaded guilty last week.
Federal prosecutors allege that Devine and Turnipseed got into an argument with others over the sale of drugs on Aug. 31, 2012, near the 4300 block of West Wilcox. Turnipseed banned someone from selling drugs on the block and then opened fire on that person, prosecutors alleged. They said a second victim suffered two “through-and-through” gunshot wounds.
Though prosecutors say Devine participated in that attempted murder, Devine insists he did not. The plea agreement makes note of the conflicting positions.
However, Devine did admit in the plea agreement to trying to sell or distribute 21.8 grams of heroin in 2005, 2006 and 2009, as well as 1.5 grams of cocaine in 2005 and 2009.
The Four Corner Hustlers have been tied in a racketeering indictment to six killings between 2000 and 2003. A detailed, 110-page document filed by prosecutors last month linked the gang to three more in 2012.
Other members of the gang remain set to go on trial Sept. 17 in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin. Spann, Turnipseed and Devine are all set to be sentenced in November.
In addition to next month’s trial, Spann’s cousin Labar Spann and two other Four Corner Hustlers — Tremayne Thompson and Juhwun Foster — are set to go to trial in September 2020. They could face the death penalty if convicted.
Contributing: Sam Charles
