Three 110 Gang Members Sentenced to Federal Prison

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Daquan Dowdell, age 29, Terry Linen, age 28, and Deshawnte Waller, age 43, all of Syracuse, were sentenced to serve, collectively, decades in federal prison for violating the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), announced Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon, Thomas F. Relford, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Syracuse Police Chief Kenton Buckner. 

Daquan Dowdell was sentenced on Friday, October 2, 2020, to serve 120 months in federal prison to be followed by three years supervised release.  In imposing sentence, Senior United State District Judge Frederick J. Scullin, Jr., found that Dowdell was personally involved in drug trafficking and gun possession, and at least one shooting, on behalf of the gang.

Terry Linen was sentenced yesterday to serve 110 months in federal prison to be followed by three years supervised release.  The Court found that Linen was involved in drug trafficking and gun possession and that he was responsible for another shooting in connection with the gang.

Deshawnte Waller was sentenced yesterday to serve 80 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years supervised release.  The Court found that Waller was involved in drug trafficking and the use of fraudulent credit cards on behalf of the gang.

Previously sentenced 110 Gang RICO defendants:

• Anthony Hopper was sentenced to 385 months in prison; 3-year term of supervised release
• Damani Prince was sentenced to 78 months in prison; 3-year term of supervised release
• Rashawn Wynn was sentenced to 92 months in prison; 3-year term of supervised release
• Davon Sullivan was sentenced to 68 months in prison; 3-year term of supervised release
• Qualik Vaughn was sentenced to 68 months in prison; 3-year term of supervised release
• Jason Lebron was sentenced to 92 months in prison, 3-year term of supervised release
• Javon Peterson was sentenced to 98 months in prison, 3-year term of supervised release. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Syracuse Police Department, and the Gang Violence Task Force, which consists of members of the Syracuse Police, the FBI, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the New York State Police, the New York State Department of Corrections, the New York State Attorney General, and the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicolas Commandeur and Kristen Grabowski

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.