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Crime, Law and Justice
Matt Sepic
Minneapolis

Jury convicts 3 Highs gang members of murder, racketeering

federal prosecutors address reporters
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Calhoun-Lopez, left, and Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick speak to reporters following the conviction of three Highs gang members on Wednesday.
Matt Sepic | MPR News

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A jury on Wednesday convicted three Minneapolis street gang members of federal racketeering and murder charges.

Keyon Pruitt, 22, Dantrell Johnson, 32, and Gregory Hamilton, 29, who are all members of the Highs, are already serving state sentences of more than 30 years. The federal convictions could send them to prison for life.

After one of their associates was killed by a member of the rival Lows in 2021, the three fatally shot Darryl Wells at Skyline Market in north Minneapolis, a Lows hangout. Lead prosecutor Tom Calhoun-Lopez said that the defendants mistook Wells for a Lows member.

“Mr. Wells had done nothing wrong,” Calhoun-Lopez said at a news conference following the trial. “He was not a member of a gang. He was a citizen of Minneapolis who was shopping for groceries.”

Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick said the men committed a variety of crimes on behalf of the Highs, making them eligible for racketeering charges.

“These defendants are not only gang members participating in a criminal enterprise whose main purpose was to hunt and kill rivals, they were also cold-blooded killers,” Kirkpatrick said.

The men are among more than 100 people charged in a federal crackdown on Minneapolis gangs that former U.S. Attorney Andy Luger announced in 2023.

Last fall a jury convicted three Bloods members on similar charges. They face sentencing later this spring.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel has scheduled three additional trials for May, June, and July for other alleged Highs members charged in the same indictment.