DETROIT, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- A leader of the Phantom Outlaw Motorcycle Club was sentenced to 40 years Tuesday for violent racketeering-related crimes and shooting at federal agents.
Marvin Nicholson, also known as "Chosen One," was convicted in March on charges that also include conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering and possession of a firearm by a felon. At trial, prosecutors said Nicholson, 46, was the national enforcer of the Phantoms, in charge of enforcing by-laws and rules, and a member of the Vice Lords street gang. Nicholson was convicted on charges stemming from the Phantoms' attacks or planned attacks on their rivals, including a murder plot, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
"Nicholson played a significant role in planning armed assaults on rivals, imposing discipline on the Phantoms and carrying out the orders of Antonio Johnson, aka Mister Tony, MT and Big Bro, who was the National President of the Phantoms and the "Three-Star General" over the Vice Lords street gang in Michigan," the DOJ said.
Prosecutors said he shot at ATF agents when they were trying to execute a search warrant at his Detroit home in October 2013. Nicholson was one of 12 convicted in the case as a result of the Detroit One Initiative, an effort between law enforcement agencies to reduce homicides and violent crimes in Detroit.
"The Detroit One partnership has focused on dismantling violent street gangs like this one because they cause intolerable harm to public safety in our neighborhoods," said U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan. "We will continue to target and disrupt violent gangs in hopes of restoring peace for residents in our community."
