cocaine-trafficking Seven Deuce Mob had been operating in Pierce County for several years.

cocaine-trafficking Seven Deuce Mob had been operating in Pierce County for several years. Tacoma police first noticed the gang in 1999 after a 23-year-old member of the gang was killed in an East Side Tacoma apartment.After a nine-month investigation by the task force, 10 people associated with the gang were prosecuted in federal court in 2004 for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, distribution of cocaine and possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute it. All were convicted.
“That gang has basically not reformed to any degree,” Bakken said.As part of an agreement, one of the members of the Seven Deuce Mob pleaded guilty to killing Brock. The teen had been standing among a group of rival gang members when members of the Seven Deuce Mob drove by.Lionel Irving had long been suspected in Brock’s slaying. He told investigators he fired several shots at the group. Brock, who was not the intended target, was hit and later died. A 17-year-old boy also was struck.Irving, who pleaded guilty to drug charges associated with the conspiracy case and to first-degree manslaughter, was sentenced to 12 years, three months in prison.When the Justice Department grant money ran out in 2005, the FBI started funding gang task forces throughout the country. Tacoma was picked again. Now, the FBI funds the task force as part of the national Safe Streets Violent Crime Initiative.
The law enforcement agencies represented on the task force pay the salaries and benefits of their investigators. The federal money pays for overtime, some equipment and occasional training.In 2008, the task force changed its name to the South Sound Gang Task Force and turned its attention to suspected gang members and gangs causing the biggest threats to public safety.“There are certain people within each gang who are more prone to (shooting),” Bakken said.The task force tends to focus on gang violence.
“Our focus isn’t on the big drug dealers,” said Tacoma police detective John Ringer, who’s been assigned to the task force since its inception. “We are more focused on the guys packing the guns and doing the shootings.”

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