Phantom Outlaw Motorcycle Club member sentenced to 40 years in racketeering case

DETROIT, MI -- A man convicted in a racketeering case as a member of the Phantom Outlaw Motorcycle Club was sentenced this week to 40 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

Marvin Nicholson, 46, of Detroit, was convicted by a jury in March along with five co-defendants of receiving income derived from racketeer-influenced and corrupt organizations (RICO), conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering and several other related assault and firearms charges.

He was one of 14 men charged in 2013 as members of a Detroit-area biker gang allegedly involved violent rivalries with other gangs, shootings, robberies, extortion and the sale of stolen vehicles and motorcycles.

Prosecutors called Nicholson the group's "national enforcer," in charge of disciplining the group's chapters and carrying out the orders of its "national president" Antonio Johnson, who was also convicted in March.

The case against the group stemmed from an alleged murder plot hatched in September 2013, involving retaliation against the Hell Lovers Motorcycle Club, which Phantom members believed was responsible for the killing one of their own, Stephen Caldwell, according to court documents.

One man suffered nonfatal gunshot wounds to the face and arm during the Phantoms' attempts at revenge, according to court records.

Nicholson's lawyer claimed in a sentencing memorandum filed last week "his involvement in the murder plot was limited to providing... an address for a Hell Lovers member who was suspected of being involved in the murder of Phantom member Steven Caldwell."

He was also convicted of firing at federal agents as they served a search warrant on his home on Oct. 4, 2013.

Prosecutors asked for a 55-year sentence, while Nicholson requested 35 years.

U.S. District Judge Paul Borman handed down the 40-year sentence Tuesday, a day after asked for a 55-year sentence and five others challenging a jury pool that "underrepresented African-Americans."

All but one of the defendants was black, and only one African American was seated as a juror in the trial, but Borman dismissed the challenge because it wasn't filed on time.

Several of the defendants in another motion have asked Borman to throw out the guilty verdicts because, they argue, "the government failed to establish the existence of a criminal enterprise."

The guilty verdicts were based on crimes related to criminal enterprise, and prosecutors, defense lawyers argue, failed to prove that an organized racketeering operation existed at all.

Prosecutors filed responses to that argument last month.

"The evidence at trial proved that each defendant was a member of a criminal enterprise—the Phantom Outlaw Motorcycle Club—and committed the crimes they were convicted of on behalf of or in furtherance of that enterprise," prosecutors argued. "Their convictions should stand. The enterprise alleged in this case, the Phantom Outlaw Motorcycle Club or the 'Phantoms,' is the type of association that has been regularly recognized by the Sixth Circuit (Appeals Court) as meeting the requirements of an 'enterprise' as defined by the RICO conspiracy statute...

"They wore common clothing with insignia that had very specific meanings within the organization and throughout the rest of the motorcycle community... Moreover, the exact nature of this association, i.e., an outlaw motorcycle gang, was made explicit in the by-laws defendant Johnson promulgated... Additionally, all of the Phantom members who testified at trial laid out the structure within the club that allowed for hierarchical decision-making."

Five of the 14 men charged in the case pleaded guilty in 2014.

Another six, including Nicholson and Johnson, were convicted by jury in March.

One man, Charles Davis, was acquitted of all charges.

And two more were convicted in May.

Brandon Paige, who pleaded guilty in December 2014 to conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, was sentenced in April to seven years and six months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Next to be sentenced will be Sherman Brown, who was convicted in march of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering. His sentence is scheduled to be handed down Aug. 20.

Johnson, of Detroit, who prosecutors said was national president of the Phantoms and also a "three-star general" of the Vice Lords street gang, is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 31.

More: http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2015/08/phantom_outlaw_motorcycle_club.html