United States Department of Justice
United States Attorney Scott N. Schools
Northern District of California
11th Floor, Federal Building
450 Golden Gate Avenue, Box 36055San
Francisco, California 94102
(415) 436-7200
FAX: (415) 436-7234

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 13, 2007
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN CONTACT: Luke Macaulay (415) 436-6757
Luke.Macaulay@usdoj.gov

DOWN BELOW GANG MEMBER SENTENCED TO 17.5 YEARS IN PRISON

Defendant Pleaded Guilty to Two Murders and Armed Robbery in 2004

SAN FRANCISCO – Robert Calloway, a member of the Down Below Gang (DBG) – a violent street gang based in the Sunnydale Public Housing Project in San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley neighborhood – was sentenced today to 17.5 years in prison for his role in participating in a racketeering conspiracy that included two murders and an armed robbery in 2004. This sentence is the result of a joint investigation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the San Francisco Police Department.

The sentencing hearings for the other defendants in the case are scheduled as follows:

Dornell Ellis: March 21, 2007
Paris Ragland: March 28, 2007
Don Johnson: March 28, 2007
Rickey Rollins: April 11, 2007
Dornell Ellis, Don Johnson, and Rickey Rollins have pleaded guilty to RICO charges and are facing sentences between 15 and 23 years.

For further information about this prosecution and the plea agreements, please see the prior press release at: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/can/press/2006/2006_12_04_DownBelowGang.8guiltypleas.press.html

The sentences were handed down by U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup. Judge Alsup also sentenced the defendants to five years of supervised release. The defendant is already in custody and will begin serving his sentence immediately.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard J. Cutler, C. David Hall, William Frentzen, Philip Kearney, and Trial Attorney Krista Tongring from the Department of Justice Organized Crime and Racketeering Section are prosecuting the case. Shane Verplanck and Kim Hopkins assisted in the prosecution. The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office provided important assistance to the prosecution. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department also contributed to the investigation and prosecution.

Further Information:

Case #: CR 05-00167 WHA

A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.

Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.

All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Luke Macaulay at (415) 436-6757 or by email at Luke.Macaulay@usdoj.gov.