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Last two members of E Block gang enter guilty pleas
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
The last of 12 members of a West Side street gang who had yet to plead guilty to gang and other charges entered guilty pleas Monday, the day their trials were to begin.
Laytton Shepherd, 22, of South Lakeview Avenue, entered guilty pleas in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of felonious assault, trafficking in counterfeit controlled substances and participating in a criminal gang. He was sentenced immediately to six years in prison by Judge Lou D’Apolito.
Judge D’Apolito also accepted a guilty plea to a single count of aggravated riot by Roderick Wilson, 28, of Warwick Avenue. He will be sentenced at a later date. Prosecutors are recommending probation.
Wilson, Shepherd and 10 others were rounded up in May 2014 as prosecutors and police said they were members of the E Block, which operated around Evanston, Lakeview and Portland avenues on lower Mahoning Avenue on the West Side.
Assistant Prosecutor Martin Desmond said Shepherd was one of several gang members who beat and robbed a pair of men outside a lower Mahoning Avenue bar in September 2013. Desmond said Shepherd and another member of the gang had walked around a corner and saw the two men from the bar fighting with other gang members, so they jumped in.
Both men were seriously injured and one still has ringing in his ears from the injuries he suffered, Desmond said.
Desmond also said that Shepherd admitted crushing prescription pills with another gang member and then packaging them to look like real drugs.
Tom Zena, Shepherd’s attorney, said that during the fight, his client kicked only one of the men one time when they were on the ground, although Desmond said some witnesses claim Shepherd did a lot more.
Shepherd, who dropped out of school in the ninth grade and has children, said nothing before he was sentenced. He gets credit for 441 days in jail awaiting the outcome of his case and is eligible for judicial release after serving a little more than a year of his prison sentence.
Wilson was in court in a wheelchair because of a gunshot wound he suffered in March when he was trying to protect the grandmother of his girlfriend who was arguing with a man over money, Desmond said. Joseph Williams, 60, was arrested in the shooting and is in the Mahoning County jail awaiting trial.
Desmond said he was inclined to recommend probation because Wilson has stayed out of trouble since he was indicted and he also has taken steps to turn his life around. He goes to school and stays out of trouble, Desmond said.
Additionally, Desmond said Wilson’s activity in the group was minimal and his conduct took place long before most of the other members began committing crimes.
Wilson apologized to all those involved in the case for his actions and said he knew the case impacted people all over Youngstown.
“The whole city pretty much had an eye on everyone,” Wilson said.
Wilson also said he hoped the defendants who were charged with him will keep themselves out of trouble.
“I just pray that the rest of my co-defendants will have a change of heart also,” Wilson said.