CLEVELAND — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)), published as received.
CLEVELAND — Following a three-week trial, a federal jury in Cleveland convicted three members of the Fully Blooded Felons, a violent Cleveland street gang, of a number of crimes, including Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act murder, RICO conspiracy, RICO kidnapping, drug trafficking, and gun crimes.
“This extremely violent gang was a true blot on the city of Cleveland,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Criminal Division’s work put a stop to the violence that this gang rained down on Ohio communities to protect law-abiding citizens from harm. Stopping violent crime in Cleveland and around the country remains a top priority for the Trump Administration.”
“These verdicts send a clear message: when gang members make it their business to hurt people and terrorize our communities, we make it our business to lock them in a cage far from home,” said U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio. “FBI Cleveland and our local law enforcement partners conducted an outstanding investigation to take down this hostile gang. We hope today’s verdict brings the victims’ families a small sense of closure in knowing that justice has been served.”
“The Fully Blooded Felons criminal network has been identified as Cleveland’s most significant gang threat,” said Special Agent in Charge Joshua DelManzo of FBI Cleveland. “Thanks to the tireless work and years-long commitment of the FBI Safe Streets Gang Task Force and our local, state, and federal partners, their reign of terror is over and justice will be served. Our work is not done. We will not waver in our mission nor lose sight of our promise to identify, investigate, disrupt, and dismantle gangs not only in the larger cities across America, but also right here in northern Ohio.”
According to evidence presented at trial, Raven Mullins, 37, Malik Brooks, 28, and Jayon Florence, 23, all of Cleveland, Ohio, were members and associates of the Fully Blooded Felons gang. The gang has existed in Ohio since approximately 2012, operating primarily out of the east side of Cleveland, as well as Akron, Youngstown, and elsewhere. It is also entrenched in the Ohio prison system.
Raven Mullins oversaw the “Commission,” the governing body of the Fully Blooded Felons, who maintain the structure and organization of the criminal enterprise through physical discipline and who determined which illicit means the organization would use to make money. The Commission had authority to determine if a member committed a “violation” and the appropriate punishment, which could range from a fine to death. The Commission was made up of a Head Commissioner and 10 subordinate Commissioners. Beneath the Commissioner were “Capos,” who led up to 25 Fully Blooded Felon members under their command.
The Fully Blooded Felons have rules that members are required to follow. For example, members are required to abide by “omerta,” or the code of silence. Members are also required to memorize and recite at meetings the “Fully Five,” a set of rules that require following all orders issued by the Commission, loyalty to fellow members, and being respectful to Capos. If a member does not know the “Fully Five,” they were punished. Members are also expected to know and abide by the “Fully Commandments,” a similar set of rules. The rules are disseminated to members by text message, and in face-to-face communications.
Evidence proved that the defendants, along with co-defendants who earlier pleaded guilty, kidnapped, and murdered a victim after the gang suspected that she was romantically involved with and sharing information with a rival gang member. On or about July 28, 2022, as punishment for the victim’s suspected disloyalty to the gang, Fully Blooded Felon members held her in an apartment where Mullins ordered gang members, including Brooks and Florence, to repeatedly punch and choke her.
Mullins, Brooks, and Florence, with other co-defendants, held her captive in that apartment while they talked about what to do with her. After taking and reviewing the contents of her phone, including text messages and contacts, gang members believed that she intended to provide a rival gang with Brooks’ location to facilitate Brooks’ assault or murder.
The next day, while still holding her captive and upon Mullins’ approval, Brooks and Florence along with other gang members drove her to an area on the west side of Cleveland where they fatally shot her 19 times, leaving her body in the front seat of a stolen Kia Optima.
From June 30 to July 5, 2022, Mullins and other Fully Blooded Felon members kidnapped and assaulted a 22-year-old woman. The victim, who was eventually released, had previously given a statement to police implicating a Fully Blooded Felon member in a robbery. Then, on Sept. 12, 2023, Mullins and two other Fully Blooded Felon members robbed and murdered a second victim on the west side of Cleveland. Evidence at trial included a knife sheath carrying Mullins’ DNA found at the scene.
The prosecution also introduced evidence showing that Brooks shot two rival gang members on the west side of Cleveland on July 18 and 20, 2022, and that Fully Blooded Felon members used two different stash houses at a local apartment complex. During the execution of two search warrants, law enforcement recovered over 300 grams of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine as well as seven firearms.
The defendants face maximum penalties of life in prison. Their sentencing date has not yet been set by the court.
As of today, 25 Fully Blooded Felon members have been charged and convicted of federal charges in relation to this indictment for crimes including RICO conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, kidnapping in aid of racketeering, and various firearms and drug-related offenses.
The case is the result of a yearslong investigation conducted by the FBI with assistance from the Cleveland Division of Police, ATF, and DEA. The Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio Adult Parole Authority (APA), Ohio Highway State Patrol, U.S. Marshals Service, and numerous other law enforcement agencies contributed to the investigation.
Trial Attorneys Brian W. Lynch and former Trial Attorney Alyssa Levey-Weinstein of the Justice Department’s Violent Crime & Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul E. Hanna, Rachael E. Wood, Robert F. Corts, and Margaret A. Sweeney for the Northern District of Ohio are prosecuting the case.
