Gang member who admitted 4 slayings gets 38 years in prison

COLUMBUS (AP) — A central Ohio gang member who took responsibility for three years-old, previously unsolved murders has been sentenced to 38 years in prison.

Robert Wilson III, 28, pleaded guilty last year to one count of racketeering conspiracy connected with the Short North Posse. Federal prosecutors said then that he also was admitting involvement in a fourth killing to which he already had pleaded guilty in state court.

A federal judge in Columbus sentenced him Thursday in the racketeering case.

The Columbus Dispatch reports Wilson and his attorney had asked for a shorter sentence, arguing he was misled by others as a young man, but the judge said he should have known the difference between right and wrong.

Wilson was among 20 members of the gang who were charged with crimes.