Ronald Herron, who performed under the name Ra Diggs, led a set of the Bloods street gang that called itself the Murderous Mad Dogs in the Gowanus and Wyckoff Gardens housing developments of Brooklyn, New York. On June 26, 2014, a federal jury in the Eastern District of New York convicted him of all counts of an indictment charging racketeering, murder in aid of racketeering, narcotics trafficking conspiracies, robbery and related offenses. The U.S. Attorney's Office described the verdict as a conviction "on all counts, including racketeering and three homicides." The deaths were those of Frederick Brooks in 2001, Richard Russo in 2008 and Victor Zapata in 2009.
On April 2, 2015, Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis sentenced Herron to 12 terms of life imprisonment plus 105 years. The Second Circuit affirmed the judgment in February 2019. The case drew wide attention because the prosecution used music videos that Herron had recorded and posted online, and the courts upheld their use.
The Gowanus Houses and Wyckoff Gardens are public housing developments in the Boerum Hill and Gowanus districts of Brooklyn. Federal prosecutors alleged that from the late 1990s until 2011 Herron controlled the drug trade there as the leader of the Murderous Mad Dogs, and that the set's violence ran in support of that business. The U.S. Attorney's Office stated that "since 1998, Herron committed numerous crimes of violence in support of his drug trafficking operation."
Federal releases gave his age as 28 when he was charged in October 2010 and 33 at sentencing. He was known by several names: Ra, Ra Diggs, Ra Digga and Raheem.
He also recorded under the name Ra Diggs. He made songs and videos about life in the Gowanus Houses, many of them posted online. In them he presented himself as the leader of the Murderous Mad Dogs.
Frederick Brooks died in 2001. Herron was acquitted of the murder in state court. The U.S. Attorney's Office later stated that the acquittal followed the refusal of witnesses to testify, and that they refused "because they were threatened by Herron and his associates."
The 2001 death was nonetheless named among the federal charges. The Second Circuit later described the federal counts relating to Mr. Brooks, Mr. Russo and Mr. Zapata, and the jury returned a verdict on every count.
Richard Russo died in 2008 and Victor Zapata in 2009. Prosecutors said both deaths occurred after Herron had been released from state custody. Both deaths were charged as murders in aid of racketeering, meaning that the government alleged they were carried out in support of the gang.
The 2012 indictment also charged three attempted murders and a robbery. The Second Circuit later identified the robbery count as one of the counts for which Herron was convicted.
On October 5, 2010, a superseding indictment was unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn charging nine members and associates of a drug trafficking crew at the Gowanus Houses. Herron was the first defendant named. The Drug Enforcement Administration and the New York City Police Department carried out the investigation, and Loretta E. Lynch, then U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced the charges. Herron was arrested in Manhattan on the same day, and he has been in custody since.
The charges in 2010 centred on conspiracy to distribute narcotics. Judge Garaufis was assigned the case from the start.
On February 13, 2012, a second superseding indictment was unsealed. It charged Herron, then aged 30, in 23 counts that included racketeering, murder, murder in aid of racketeering, murder conspiracy, attempted murder, robbery and narcotics trafficking. The charges described a pattern of violence since 1998.
Before trial Herron filed motions of his own. He argued that he was not a United States citizen and that the federal court had no jurisdiction over him, calling himself a "sovereign inhabitant." Judge Garaufis denied the motion promptly. At trial he was represented by defense counsel, including attorney James Neuman.
In May 2014 Judge Garaufis ruled that the jury could hear the rap lyrics and watch the videos. He allowed the defense to argue that the recordings were harmless works of art and to call an expert on hip-hop culture to explain the language. He found the recordings relevant because they established Herron's identity as the leader of the Murderous Mad Dogs. Prosecutors argued that the videos showed that Herron wanted to "stand out as a real-life gangster." The defense said the videos were protected speech and could prejudice the jury.
The trial began in Brooklyn in May 2014 and lasted about five weeks. Prosecutors called more than 50 witnesses. Herron's lawyers argued in opening statements that the recordings were art imitating life, and that Herron's rapping was a way to act as a "voice for the people in the projects where he grew up." He maintained throughout that he was an aspiring rap artist and not a gang leader.
The jury deliberated for about a day. On June 26, 2014, it found him guilty on all 23 counts. U.S. Attorney Lynch said that Herron "and his gang of thugs preyed on their community while glorifying their criminal lifestyle." Because the conviction carried a mandatory term of life imprisonment, the sentence was fixed in advance.
On April 2, 2015, Judge Garaufis sentenced Herron, then 33, to 12 terms of life imprisonment plus 105 years. Judgment was entered on April 8, 2015. The life terms ran partly consecutively and partly concurrently, with mandatory consecutive minimum terms on certain counts.
Lynch said that Herron "styled himself a rap artist" but sought power through fear and intimidation. Herron told the court that the prosecution's portrait of him as "the devil incarnate" was untrue.
Herron appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in No. 15-1089-cr. On February 14, 2019, a panel of Circuit Judges Denny Chin and Susan L. Carney and District Judge Brian M. Cogan affirmed in a summary order. The panel rejected each of his claims:
The court held that admitting the music videos did not violate the First Amendment and was not an abuse of discretion under Federal Rule of Evidence 403. The videos were relevant, it said, to his participation in the charged conspiracies, his leadership role, his familiarity with the drug trade and his ties to cooperating witnesses. It found his claim of a denied right to call witnesses unsupported, because one potential witness was never subpoenaed and another had a valid basis to decline to testify. It upheld the denial of a motion to suppress other evidence under the good-faith exception, and it rejected his challenges to the classification of certain counts as crimes of violence, finding any instructional error harmless.
Herron denied the charges at trial and said the recordings were not autobiography. The jury rejected that defense on every count.
The 2001 death carries a state-court acquittal: he was acquitted in state court, and federal prosecutors said witnesses had been threatened.
2001: Frederick Brooks dies; Herron is later acquitted in state court.
2008: Richard Russo dies.
2009: Victor Zapata dies.
October 5, 2010: superseding indictment unsealed in the Eastern District of New York; Herron arrested in Manhattan.
February 13, 2012: second superseding indictment unsealed, with 23 counts.
May 2014: Judge Garaufis rules the music videos may be shown to the jury; trial begins.
June 26, 2014: federal jury convicts Herron on all counts.
April 2, 2015: sentenced to 12 terms of life imprisonment plus 105 years.
February 14, 2019: Second Circuit affirms the judgment.