Eight alleged members of a Memphis-based street gang have been indicted for various crimes between 2022 and 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday, July 18. 

Larry Wilson, 35; Brian Lackland, 35; Paul Nelson, 32; Mohamed Samba, 25; Braxton Beck, 33; Edgar Smith, 39; Jerrod Cox, 32; and Cedrick Jackson, 33, have all been charged for their involvement with the Young Mob gang, according to a DOJ press release. 

The Young Mob gang allegedly “receives money and income from drug trafficking, kidnappings and robberies,” according to the DOJ.

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“Such funds are used for gang purposes, including obtaining weapons and narcotics and providing support for YM gang members, including those in prison serving time for various crimes. YM also receives money from various musical interests, with defendant Lackland being a well-known rapper who goes by the stage name ‘Stupid Duke.’ ”

The DOJ release — which credits the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Memphis Multi-Agency Gang Unit and the Memphis Police Homicide Unit with investigating the case — also details some of the alleged crimes the men are accused of committing. 

According to the release, on May 28, 2022, Samba and “other, not-yet-identified” Young Mob members shot members of the alleged rival KSBG gang at a local McDonald’s, killing one and attempting to kill two others. After the shooting, Young Mob members burned the stolen car used in the shooting.

Nelson, Cox and another unnamed Young Mob member allegedly robbed customers of Tug’s Casual Grill in Harbortown at gunpoint in May 2023. According to media reports at the time, one of the victims fired back, striking the unnamed member. Nelson and Cox dropped the injured man off at a local fire station, and he later died in the hospital. The DOJ said Friday that Nelson and Cox drove their stolen car to another location and burned it after dropping off the unnamed member. 

On March 17, 2024, Lackland and Beck allegedly attempted to kill a rival gang member, an act that was “thwarted in part due to police presence in the area,” according to the DOJ.

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On June 11 and June 12, 2024, Lackland, Beck, Wilson and Jackson allegedly attempted to rob customers at a local tattoo shop “before abandoning the scene because of police presence.”

“Undeterred, the same group, along with Smith this time, returned to the tattoo shop after police left the area and robbed multiple customers,” according to the DOJ.

The DOJ said Friday the gang members are also separately charged as part of a drug conspiracy that was responsible for the distribution of “400 grams or more of fentanyl and 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.” Multiple members are also charged with various firearm offenses. 

“Gang violence that spills into our community spreads fear and insecurity in our neighborhoods. The Criminal Division, in partnership with our federal and local law enforcement colleagues, remains steadfast in our pursuit of gangs that inflict senseless violence in our country,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in the release. 

The release did not specify if the indicted men remain in federal custody; DOJ officials did not immediately provide that information. 

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If convicted, Lackland, Samba, Nelson, Smith and Cox face a maximum of life in prison. Wilson faces a maximum of 60 years; Beck faces a maximum of 45 years and Jackson faces a maximum of 20 years, according to the DOJ.

Earlier this summer, federal prosecutors secured a conviction for another local gang member.

Vincent Grant, a member of the Unknown Vice Lords, also known as the Ghost Mob, was convicted on June 5 of murder in the aid of racketeering for the killing of Tim Johnson, a fellow gang member who allegedly killed one of the gang’s leaders prior to his own murder. 

Grant’s co-defendants Edward Allen and Deandre Rodgers are set for trial March 9, 2026. They also face a single charge of murder in aid of racketeering.