NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A federal jury has convicted three gang members blamed for five murders, six attempted murders and other crimes in eastern Virginia.
Nathaniel Mitchell, Antonio Simmons and Malek Lassiter were convicted Thursday on charges including conspiracy to commit racketeering, murder, attempted murder, drug trafficking and gun crimes. The charges stem from a monthlong crime spree in the Hampton Roads area in late 2015.
Prosecutors say the defendants are members of the Nine Trey Gangsters, part of the United Blood Nation street gang.
Simmons and Mitchell face mandatory life prison terms when sentenced in July. Lassiter faces at least 85 years behind bars.
Authorities say that from roughly Thanksgiving through Christmas of 2015, the gang members murdered two men and three women, most of whom had no affiliation with the gang.
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