Mafia Insane Vice Lords Gang Dismantled
Prosecutors in DA Charme Allen’s Career Gang Unit and Felony Drug Unit obtained convictions against the remaining members of the Mafia Insane Vice Lords [MIVL] criminal street gang. Daton Darrell Matthews, 22, Jeremy Lamar Edwards, 22, and Marquez Travell Billingsley, 19, each pled guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Sell Heroin in a Drug Free Zone. Under the terms of the agreement, Matthews must serve fifteen years in prison with parole eligibility after twelve years, Billingsley must serve twelve years without parole, and Edwards must serve eight years without parole consecutive to another eight-year sentence from a separate cocaine distribution case.
In a plea hearing before Judge Steve Sword, Assistant District Attorneys Phil Morton and Sean McDermott explained to the Court that in early 2015, members of the MIVL criminal street gang began selling heroin in Knox County. By the gang’s own admission, MIVL”is an organized underground organization that participates in organized crime. Our main occupation is finance, to provide more better [sic] security for our family, our nation, and ourselves as a whole.” Investigators with the Knoxville Police Department, Knox County Sheriff’s Office, Drug Enforcement Administration, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the Chattanooga Police Department worked with the DA’s Office to execute several search warrants at MIVL residences, to conduct undercover heroin purchases from a MIVL member, and to forensically examine cell phones that ultimately outlined how the MIVL operated and brought approximately half a kilogram of heroin to Knoxville every month with a street value of $100,000.
“It is the cooperation between these law enforcement organizations that made this complex, lengthy investigation successful,” said DA Charme Allen.”The investigators and prosecutors of our offices are dedicated to combating gang violence on our streets and fighting the opiate epidemic that has inundated our community.”
An additional MIVL member, Abraham James Owens, was set to go to trial today in this case. Owens was murdered five days ago in the 1600 block of Peltier Road. If anyone has information on this incident, please call the Knoxville Police Department’s crime information line at 865-215-7212. Callers can remain anonymous.
If you have any questions, please contact Sean McDermott at 865-215-2515 or Sean.McDermott@knoxcounty.org. For more information about the District Attorney’s Office, visit our website at dag.knoxcountytn.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.