PITTSBURGH — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Western), published as received.
PITTSBURGH - A member of the 11 Hunnit street gang from the Hill District neighborhood of Pittsburgh has been sentenced in federal court to 78 months’ imprisonment on his conviction for violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today.
United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on Richard Kelly (aka “RB,” aka “Rack Boy”), 26, formerly of the Hill District neighborhood of the City of Pittsburgh, following his April 15, 2021 guilty plea to one count of RICO conspiracy.
According to information presented to the court, Kelly, a member of the violent street gang known as “11 Hunnit,” conspired with codefendants Sydney Pack, Dionte Griffin, and others, to conduct and participate in the affairs of the 11 Hunnit gang through a pattern of racketeering activity consisting generically of acts involving murder, robbery, and the distribution of controlled substances. Mr. Kelly acknowledged his personal participation in certain overt acts that were done in furtherance of the RICO conspiracy, which included a June 2015 incident wherein Mr. Kelly was found by police in a stolen vehicle with other gang members along with heroin and a stolen firearm previously used in a shooting; an incident in October 2016 wherein Mr. Kelly and another 11 Hunnit member conspired to rob an unknown person in the Hill District neighborhood; and two shootings on December 4, 2016, one of which rendered the victim permanently paralyzed.
In accordance with the United States Sentencing Guidelines, the Court directed a portion of the federal sentence to run concurrently to Kelly’s state sentence of imprisonment of five to ten years for related offenses. Upon Kelly’s release from imprisonment, he will be supervised by the United States Probation Department for three years.
Assistant United States Attorney Jerome A. Moschetta prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
Acting United States Attorney Kaufman commended the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, together with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Kelly. This prosecution is a result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities throughout the United States. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
