Violent Robbery Gang Charged With Racketeering

TOLEDO, Ohio – Five members in a local crime gang believed responsible for as many as six credit union heists were charged with racketeering and robbery in criminal indictments unsealed in state court here yesterday. The gang was charged with armed robberies at Jeep FCU and Standard FCU, and are believed responsible for another hold-up at Jeep FCU, robberies at Toledo Public Schools FCU, Champion FCU, and an attempted robbery at Toledo Police FCU, between 1998 and 2001, which netted them about $910,000, authorities said. The suspects were charged with RICO because they engaged in a pattern of corrupt activities, according to Chris Anderson, assistant prosecutor for the Lucas County District Attorney’s office. “This allows us get around the statute of limitations,” Anderson told The Credit Union Journal yesterday. In each of the robberies the suspects were heavily armed with semi-automatic handguns, said Anderson. The suspects were indicted by a grand jury on January 26, but the indictments were sealed to give police a chance to round them up, he said. The suspects were identified as: John Jackson, 33, William Wren, 30, Milo Terry, 33, James Wyley, 37, and Christopher Hicks, age unknown.