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It started with simple beer runs.
A group calling themselves the Tongan Crip Gang would go into a 7-Eleven and shoplift a case of beer for the night. Theft graduated to robbing restaurants at gunpoint for money and assaulting store employees in the process. Soon, the gang brought a new level of violence to their crime spree — they threatened to kill a clerk with a screwdriver, stomped on someone during a hold-up so severely that they broke three of the victim's ribs and beat up an elderly man on the street.
The vicious behavior was part of TCG's goal to establish themselves as a notorious gang, Assistant U.S. Attorney Veda Travis said Monday during closing arguments in the four-week federal court trial for seven members of the gang in a racketeering case.
"They wanted to be the baddest, meanest, toughest guys in town," Travis said, explaining why TCG is a criminal enterprise, which therefore allows them to be charged under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in the federal system. She said TCG members sought to commit crime in order to enhance their standing in the gang and expand the gang's operations.
"The senseless violence had a meaning," she told jurors in U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell's courtroom.
Travis' remarks came as the trial for seven members of TCG drew closer to an end on Monday. Seventeen TCG members and associates were charged in a 29-count indictment filed in federal court in May 2010, alleging the gang engages in acts of violence to enhance its prestige and to protect and expand the gang's operations.
Nine of the 17 received RICO charges, a move designed to take a major step toward dismantling the gang, prosecutors said when announcing the indictments last year.
Eight of the 17 were tried during the past four weeks: Eric Kamahele, aka "Smooth," 22, Cottonwood Heights; Mataika Tuai, aka "Fish," 32, Salt Lake City; David Kamoto, aka "D-Down," 22, Salt Lake City; Daniel Maumau, aka "D-Loc," 24, Salt Lake City; Kepa Maumau, aka "Kap-Loc," 22; Charles Moa, aka "Slim-Loc," 31, West Jordan; Sitamipa Toki, aka "Tok-Loc," 28, Salt Lake City; and David Walsh, aka "D-Nutt," 31, Inglewood, Calif.
Moa's case was dismissed before closing arguments by Campbell after his attorney filed a motion for acquittal. Campbell granted the request, finding there was not enough evidence to send Moa's case on to the jury.
Defense attorneys are expected to begin their closing arguments in the case on Tuesday.
Defense attorneys have claimed TCG didn't commit violence as a way to build prestige but were simply a group of friends who happened to commit crimes together.
Scott C. Williams, one of eight defense attorneys on the case, has said the federal case against TCG isn't appropriate because there isn't evidence that the group is an organized criminal enterprise. Individual crimes should be charged in state court, he argued. He said that the defendants in the federal case are part of the gang for "cultural" reasons. He said many in TCG joined to find a sense of belonging and because relatives and neighbors before them joined — not because they sought to build a professional crime organization.
"TCG is more 'T' than 'C,' " Williams said. "It's more about being Tongan."
But Travis and other prosecutors argued TCG plotted crimes that escalated over time. They said that everything about the gang — their clothing, tattoos and behavior — meet the definition of what a criminal enterprise is all about.
"There are characteristics that make it a definable [criminal] organization," Travis said.
Dozens of crimes orchestrated by TCG were discussed throughout the four-week trial, including a fatal shooting in 2007.
Makalita Fifita, whose brother was gunned down by a TCG member, testified to witnessing her brother's murder on Feb. 24, 2007. Fifita's brother, 21-year-old Solomone TokoToko Tu'ifua, a member of the Tongan Crip Gang who went by the moniker of "Bomm-Loc," was on the outs with other TCG members because he apparently wanted to leave the gang, prosecutors said.
In Tu'ifua's case, police initially arrested then 25-year-old Soakai Junior Satini and Kamoto in the slaying, but homicide charges were dismissed when it was determined neither was the shooter. New testimony about events surrounding Tu'ifua's murder came out at trial, including the accusation that defendant David Walsh, a TCG member from Inglewood, Calif., was the man who fired on Tu'ifua because Tu'ifua had a "beef" with other TCG members and wanted to stop living the gangster lifestyle.
Travis noted to jurors that TCG affected businesses and interstate commerce through their crime spree — a legal factor important in obtaining convictions for the men.
Prosecutors have faced challenges in presenting their case to jurors, including witnesses who have backed out because they were apparently scared of gang retaliation or didn't want to testify against gang comrades. One witness chose jail for contempt of court over testifying against gang leaders.
The case will likely be sent to the jury late Tuesday.
Twitter: @mrogers_trib —
Gang facts presented as evidence
Assistant U.S. Attorney Veda Travis pointed to gang tattoos and clothing as evidence seven defendants on trial for racketeering charges are members of the Tongan Crip Gang. Travis cited facts and indicators that the defendants associated with Crips, including:
TCG maintains rivalries with "Blood" gangs. Gang tattoos on several defendants included the letter "B" crossed out, a sign of disrespect to their rivals. Some defendants also had BK or "blood killer" inked on their bodies.
TCG is organized into "families" and "generations." These groups are gang members who may be related to each other or associate closely. Each family has a name such as "loc," "roc," "down" or "nutt," which is attached as a suffix to a gang member's name as a moniker once someone is initiated into the gang. The gang's generations are generally broken down by age. The defendants on trial in federal court are considered to be TCG's seventh generation in Salt Lake City.
TCG rites of passage include prospective members committing crimes or "putting in work," such as robberies or assaults, on behalf of the gang. Prospective gang members who join are "courted in" or "jumped in" — a beating administered by other gang members as an initiation.
There is no formal hierarchy in TCG. But certain members considered to have more "juice" or "street cred" become leaders who dictate the gang's activities. They become leaders and gain influence with their criminal reputations.
As a Crip set, TCG members generally wear blue. They are known to rob stores with blue bandanas over their faces.
Tattoos involve a variation of "TCG," as well as "Glendale" and the numbers "102" and "104." Glendale refers to a section of Salt Lake City where many TCG members live. The "102" refers to a street in Inglewood, Calif., where TCG originated. The numbers "104" are the last three digits in the Glendale ZIP code.
TCG members throw hand signs to represent the gang. The signs try to mirror the letters "TCG." Trial at a glance
The trial for seven alleged members of the Tongan Crip Gang is drawing to a close this week in federal court before U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell.
During closing arguments of the trial on Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Veda Travis said TCG is a criminal enterprise that has built itself into a gang terrorizing Utah for the past 20 years by committing violent robberies, assaults and shootings. She asked jurors to convict defendants on charges of conspiracy to commit racketeering, saying the group has demonstrated a clear pattern of criminal activity at community restaurants and stores.
Defense attorneys have claimed TCG didn't commit violence as a way to build prestige but acted on a case-by-case basis. Defense attorneys have asked jurors to consider their clients separately and to not let prosecutors' scare them with a "fear factor" that is unfair.
Seventeen TCG members and associates were charged in a 29-count indictment filed in federal court in May 2010, alleging the gang engages in acts of violence to enhance its prestige and to protect and expand the gang's operations.
Nine of the 17 received Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges, a move designed to take a major step toward dismantling the gang, prosecutors said when announcing the indictments last year.
The U.S. attorney's office has said it took two years to assemble the TCG case, which included documenting 34 "overt acts" dating back to 2002 that support the RICO allegations.