Fresno, California - Kiandre Johnson, 25, of Fresno, was sentenced Monday to 11 years and six months in prison for engaging in a conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering and using a facility of interstate commerce to facilitate prostitution, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, in March and April 2016, Johnson conspired with other Dog Pound Gang members to kill rival gang members for the purpose of gaining or maintaining his status within the Dog Pound enterprise. Between March 23, 2016, and April 7, 2016, three Dog Pound members or associates were shot or shot at by rival gang members. After the March 23 shooting, Johnson and other Dog Pound members conspired to murder rival gang members in retaliation for the shootings. On April 7, 2016, Johnson obtained a firearm from co‑defendant William Lee to use in a shooting later that evening. Johnson was armed with the gun when he and others went to Fink White Park, rival gang territory, and engaged in a shooting. Johnson tried to fire the gun, but it jammed. After, Johnson returned to a local hotel where other Dog Pound members were located. Johnson met with Lee, and the two planned to go and test the gun to see what the problem was. However, before they could do so, police attempted to stop them. They threw the gun out of the window of the car and police recovered it.

Additionally, York, Monson, Wharry, Maxey, Johnson, and Millro were involved in sex trafficking female victims both within and outside of California. Wharry, Johnson, and Windfield were also involved in fraud that involved obtaining stolen credit card account numbers, manufacturing counterfeit credit cards, and conducting transactions with the counterfeit credit cards throughout California, Nevada, Oregon, Minnesota, Illinois, and Missouri to obtain money, goods and services.

Johnson was the last of the defendants in the case to be sentenced. Following are the other defendants charged in this case:

James York, 41, a leader in the Dog Pound enterprise, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, use of a facility of interstate commerce to promote prostitution, and possession of an unregistered firearm;

Trenell Monson, 31, a leader in the Dog Pound enterprise, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, interstate transportation for prostitution, and use of a facility of interstate commerce to promote prostitution;

Deandre Stanfield, a leader in the Dog Pound enterprise, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering;

Kenneth Wharry Jr., 35, was sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, interstate transportation for prostitution, and conspiracy to effect transactions with access devices issued to other persons;

Darrell Maxey, 23, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, and use of a facility of interstate commerce to promote prostitution;

Davon Millro, 24, was sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, and use of a facility of interstate commerce to promote prostitution;

Kenneth Johnson III, 28, was sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, and conspiracy to effect transactions with access devices issued to other persons;

William Lee, 41, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering; and,

Anthony Windfield Jr., 33, was sentenced to 7 years, 3 months in prison for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to effect transactions with access devices issued to other persons.

This case was the product of an investigation by the California Department of Justice/California Highway Patrol Special Operations Unit; Fresno Police Department; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the IRS Criminal Investigation; the Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium; the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office; and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly A. Sanchez and Jeffrey A. Spivak prosecuted the case.

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.