I think a lot comes down to profit, Moran said. Increasing numbers doesnt mean more people are joining gangs, but is more likely a result of more effective validation strategies and enforcement activities, Moran said. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. I was all anti-him, like, hes just a thug, she says. However, Heffker is additionally charged with murder in aid of racketeering, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, or assault in aid of racketeering. They show them the money, the girls, the cars, the flashy clothes, the things their families are just not providing them. His uncles were Simon City Royals, and he views the gang as his "family." In the 1960s and '70s, the Royals were known for their white supremacist ideology. The skinny blond adolescent had to show he was tough enough to become a Black Gangster Disciple. The defendants employed various methods to conceal their activities and finances, including communicating via encrypted messages and filing articles of incorporation to establish a fraudulent nonprofit organization with the state of Mississippi. A newspaper story says the Simon City gang was mostly defunct at that time, but Jiminezs cash infusion reinvigorated it, financing $50,000 recruitment payments, paying members to get tattoos on their faces, bail for those awaiting trial, and respect from fellow members. The Simon City Royals is a street gang that originated in Chicago but has migrated south to Mississippi and north to Wisconsin. She helped Ivey administer the Royals fund; he required each of the 150 members to contribute $12 a month. Following his defeat, the two gangs were merged into a single one, now known as the Simon City Royals. What were you all trying to accomplish in the CDC? For more, watch "This Is Life with Lisa Ling" Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The Vice Lords is not our enemy. In jail, Ivey vowed to True Love that he would remain loyal to the death and keep Royals rules confidential. If you are a white kid in prison, serving a lengthy sentence and feel the need to clique up, there are a lot of different options, depending on where youre at. A 2016 study in Jackson, which focused on urban black gangs, showed that not finishing school and being put into a police car are top precursors for a young person committing worse crime as an adult. A fight filmed at Wavelands Nereids parade in February also was blamed on Royals. Theyre also likely to work with other gangs to make money, he said. To tell you the truth I had a beef with the first DWB I met. Most of my brothers Ive associated with inside were still faithful to their county cars and we supported any major actions made by the peckerwoods, outside of stupid dope debts, miss me with that bullshit. The Simon City Royals formed in the 1950s as a predominantly white greaser gang and rose to prominence through a series of turf battles with Hispanic and black gangs on the city's North. Benny Ivey met Kristina Arnold, who was visiting someone else, at the Common Bond rehabilitation center in Jackson, Mississippi, where he finally kicked his meth habit after 20 years. By then, Ivey was getting clean, writing, praying, working out and trying to imagine his own future. In the middle is one of the symbols of the Simon City Royals - a cross with three slashes above. Sometimes police run across those who say theyre gang members but arent. Following the publication of the indictments, U.S. Attorney Lamar emphasized his commitment to combatting illegal gang activity and violence. He went in and out of juvenile detention and Mississippis notorious training schools that, before being reformed, were near-torture chambers for mostly African American and poor white delinquents. Over the last year, Ivey built a large deck for Sunday cookouts, positioned a flatscreen for Nascar viewing and turned his garage into a workout studio with a large Confederate flag over his weight set. According to the indictment, the defendants murdered or attempted to murder numerous individuals, including a suspected law-enforcement cooperator, a rival gang leader, and individuals perceived to have shown disrespect to the gang. Thanks for the tip ! 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The Simon City Royals are allied with the People Nation, the Latin Kings, Black P. Stones, and Vice Lords. For more, watch "This Is Life with Lisa Ling" Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The gang once was considered the nations largest white gang, with only men accepted. The Royals are Mississippis third-largest street gang, but local gang investigators say law enforcement officers have more contact with Royals across the six southernmost counties. "You're wasting your time talking to the followers. On the outside, Ivey started organizing the Royals. This ranking includes only players who are still . They are just using them to get something done.. 2023 www.hattiesburgamerican.com. Violators may be subject to civil and criminal litigation and penalties. We are already incarcerated. Her parents were addicts, too, and she had had a daughter at 16. Almighty Simon City Royal Nation As the Dirty White Boys spread through the federal system more and more members joined. Prison is a world unto itself and life in a white prison gang is something else altogether. Most Read. These alliances protect fellow gang members and facilitate drug trafficking by dividing up territory and setting fair prices for allied groups. Copyright 2022 WLOX. Hubbard said Royals also are buying property and opening businesses throughout the state, which are sometimes a money-laundering front. Born in 1950s as a group of greasers, a typical white youth subculture, they owe their name to Simons Park, their original stronghold and base of operation. It was an all-white organization, he says. We have had a lot of problems with a lot of different gangs, mostly the Aryan Circle and the Texas Aryan Brotherhood. Follow her onTwitter@licibev. With a one-year suspended sentence, he stayed free, but he kept robbing until he got caught and was sent to back to jail. Like many, Ivey stepped up into the gang from an unstructured life without positive adult influences, looking for what initiates tend to call betterment. Thats when a federal probe with assistance from local police uncovered a gun-trafficking operation run by Royals. By 2014, the number of Royals statewide grew to nearly 2,000, including 281 in Biloxi, police Sgt. Around the same time in February 2015, after a package of meth was intercepted by law enforcement, Bilbo and Hayden, kidnapped an unknown victim at knifepoint and threatened to kill him, if he did not contact the postal service and falsely claim the drugs as his. Current Location: Chicago and the United States Penitentiary System; When he was 13, three white teenage boys beat Benny Ivey. All the defendants appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Sanders on Monday and are scheduled for arraignments and detention hearings on Thursday, May 23, 2019, at 2:30pm. Women are also accepted into the SCR, but on a limited basis. The broken flaming cross represents the Almighty Gaylords (a longtime enemy) with an upside down . It is just one of the extreme things that can happen in prison. I just went and smashed the dude. Now, the Royals have members of both genders and all races. While in Utah in 2004 I caught some time in the Salt Lake City jail and found we are deep in their system, but contrary to what has been reported, had no conflict with the Silent Aryan Crusaders (SAC) or Silent Aryan Warriors (SAW). Ivey was 12 when he began sniffing Scotchgard. Chapman, whose 315 saves rank third among active relievers, joined the Royals on a one-year, $3.75-million contract this winter. When Ivey met True Love in jail in 1998, he found a brotherhood that understood rednecks like him. They never tried to get me to rehab, they always sent me to prison, he says. He works on houses in formerly lily-white South Jackson, where race demographics have flipped since his family house-hopped there. 22, 2019 at 4:39 AM PDT. Postal Employee in September 2021. For more, watch "This Is Life with Lisa Ling" Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Law enforcement say the Royals started growing exponentially on the Gulf coast in 2008 the year Ivey retired and are now Mississippis third largest criminal street gang. Marshals Service; the U.S. Secret Service; the FBIs Jackson Field Office; the Mississippi Department of Corrections; and local law enforcement agencies across multiple states are investigating the case. It is a predominately white street gang that formed on the north . I fell in 2000 and was sent to USP Lompoc in California. She had kicked her own habit and was studying to be a medical assistant. The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt and that all individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. The gang has been involved in murder for hire, gambling and drug trafficking, the court document said. State intelligence center releases hard gang figures in threat assessment, 'Don't come here because we're going to get you. We are focused on our future and our family, getting home to them safely. It depends on your definition of major force. InfoTracer is not a "consumer reporting agency" under the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"), and does not provide "consumer reports" under the FCRA. In the middle is one of the primary symbols of the Simon City Royals a cross with three slashes above. (WLBT) - Six alleged members of the Simon City Royals were charged in a two-count indictment stemming from a violent prison stabbing that occurred at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility located in Meridian. Full Name: Almighty Simon City Royal Nation (Formerly); Thaddeus Jimenez, the leader of the Simon City Royals street gang, is shown shooting Earl Casteel in the legs on Aug. 17, 2015 in the Irving Park neighborhoo. All rights reserved. Even though the Royals outnumber other gangs in South Mississippi, investigators say theyre no more or less dangerous than members of other gangs. Daggans, who grew up in Gulfport, was abused as a child by his mother. He ran his chapter via cellphone (a little gangster would hold it for me) and he sent missive scrolls to Royals on the outside. Daggans said he also works with city and law enforcement officials to learn more about gang activity from someone in the know. In 2008, he returned to a trailer park where a mother of two called Spirit lived and assisted with operations. Intelligence reports from area police show more Simon City Royals have been found in South Mississippi than anywhere else in the state. Today, many locals are surprised to learn that white gang members ran drugs and kicked in doors for two decades between Jackson and its majority-white suburbs. Numbers, Activities, or etc. Many of the young people who join the Royals come from broken homes or an impoverished environment, though some come from good homes and structured families, said Evan Hubbard, warden at the Harrison County jail. Thomasa Spirit Massey was a Royal Queen of the Simon City Royals chapter Benny Ivey ran. Iveys members were all 100% fine being allied with a black gang, but his Royals werent diverse. I did 10 years of a 10 year sentence, day for day. 21 alleged gang members, associates charged in RICO indictment. But when I went to Lee County I met one of my best friends, Donny Shultz, who is an old school Dirty and one of the best dudes I ever met. I dont just take their word for it, Lessner said. People up north like to make fun of us., Still, the flag was gone in December when the black photographer he had gotten to know for this article visited. The Simon City Royals (SCR) are a predominantly white male group in Mississippi who are directly affiliated with the Almighty Black Gangster Disciples. The Mississippi Association of Gang Investigators often points to violent white gangsters to push for tougher enforcement, telling media that 53% of verified gang members in the state are white. Tolbert had tattoo . Still, after leaving the Delta prison, Ivey went to jail again for driving a woman to a drug deal. The Simon City Royals endured the tumultuous mid-70s with alliances among gangs forged and lost, along with violent altercations claiming the lives of many members as well as leaders named Arab and Bimbo. 21 talking about this. Early greasers were immigrants, often Italian, maligned by wealthier whites for greasing machines in blue-collar jobs. You have to take a beating to become a part of their organization, Hubbard said, and if you want out, you have to take a beating to get out.. As the gang members recidivated their numbers grew and split into many state prison systems they were housed at. Jimmy was sitting at the front of the bed with a pistol to his head, the letter on the floor beside him. However, membership has attracted suburban and rural criminals in states like Mississippi. His mother didnt have transportation to visit, and he was alone behind bars, so he decided then and there the Royals would be his family. They dont show them the side that if you are caught disobeying what they tell you to do or fail to do a home invasion when they tell you to that the penalty could be death.. The scope of the Simon City Royals crimes is wide-ranging and consistent throughout the national operation. Corrections officials identified Fitch as a member of the Simon City Royals, a largely white gang that is affiliated with the Gangster Disciples. Those who try to leave a gang face even more danger. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS But I didnt just stop there, I knocked the dude out on the top tier and drug his ass down the stairs by his ankles while everyone was watching, not just to really mess the dude up, but also to show everyone what could happen to them if it was called for. Only those who are willing to do what it takes can be on top. You have to allow concept to be verbalized so people can understand the better part of what we stand for.". To do things for the others to follow. Main Office: (WLOX) - A federal indictment was unsealed today charging 21 alleged members and associates of the Simon City Royals gang, three of those members were from South Mississippi. We have no structure per say in the California prison system. The Simon City Royals (SCR), are one of the few primarily Caucasian-European gangs in the city of Chicago. Ivey avoided conflicts with the Aryan Brotherhood who considered the Royals traitors to the white race but he also had to stand up to his own black allies. They spread like an infectious disease and have come to epitomize unorganized crime- they have no governing body, no outside influence, and no leaders. If a Royal from Houston is pulled over in a traffic stop in Biloxi, his presence in Biloxi is documented. Lisa Ling goes inside the prison where the predominant gang population comes from Mississippi's Simon City Royals organization. Schouest pronounced sh-west said she learned Tanner was a high-ranking member of the Simon City Royals street gang after their relationship began. WASHINGTON - A federal indictment was unsealed yesterday charging 18 alleged members of the Simon City Royals gang with a racketeering conspiracy involving murder, attempted murder, narcotics trafficking, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, wire fraud and money laundering. At first, she told Ivey she wasnt interested in more. (Their rhetoric is familiar: a Gaylords nostalgia website called Latino gangs storage bins for illegal immigrants.). A gang leader who blew a multimillion-dollar award from his wrongful conviction lawsuit by using the money to rejuvenate the Simon City Royals was sentenced Thursday to a little more than nine . But it all came crashing down when he shot a fellow Simon City member in both legs then raced away from police in his $90.000 Mercedes full of guns and ammunition. Intelligence reports from area police show more Simon City Royals have been found in South Mississippi than anywhere else in the state. The Dirty White Boys started at FCI El Reno in Oklahoma in the mid-80s and from there went on to become the largest white prison gang in the federal prison system. None of them knew the first thing about being in a gang, and yet many kids lusted after it, even some who lived in nice homes with their families, Ivey says now. 900 Jefferson Ave. What Are the Simon City Royals Gang Signs & Initiation Rites? Members are required to submit reports daily to the board over each facility that tracks money earned, disciplinary actions, and any violence/security threats that occur. Agents seized more than 100 guns many of them stolen, sawed off or with obliterated serial numbers and 15 gang members were sent to prison. A year later, he joined the Gangster Disciples. Instead he continues to promote the message of positivity. During his time behind bars, Ivey studied Royals literature 50 pages of policies and history and started networking. Federal drug agents have accused him and others of trafficking meth shipped here from California. Within Mississippi prisons they make up about 11% of the gang population. White people do bad, too., Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Benny Ivey retired from leading the Simon City Royals in central Mississippi in 2008. Jerry Mitchell first hand:Years ago, I investigated Mississippi's prisons. The Simon City Royals gang colors are blue and black, but the Kansas City Royals team colors were adopted, adding green and white to the mix. It is during this time that the Royals fought another set of bloody wars against the Latin Kings, the Gaylords and the Insane Deuces. If you share the DWB tattoo with me, then you better have my back as well as I will have yours. Law enforcement estimates put the number of all gang members statewide between 15,000 and 20,000, he said. The Simon City Royals gang colors are blue and black, but the Kansas City Royals' team colors were adopted, adding green and white to the mix. A locked padlock Like many gang members, Ivey had never had a real job or even a drivers license, but a friend referred him to a plumbing and remodeling company. Iveys brother Danny, who is now in rehab, had turned Aryan Brotherhood in prison, tattooing a swastika on to his chest.
