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24-year-old New Orleans man on Friday pleaded guilty in federal court to murder, racketeering and drug conspiracy charges, becoming the last of eight defendants to go down in a federal probe into the Central City gang known as the "Josephine Dog Pound." Darryl "Snook" Shields faces mandatory life sentences for each of two counts of murder in aid of racketeering for the shooting deaths of Ronnie Meade and Herbert Lane, federal court records show. Meade was killed on July 13, 2005, following a beef with the gang's alleged ringleader, Michael "Mike-Mike" Anderson. Lane was killed during a firefight among several rival gang members on Sept. 4, 2006, the plea agreement says. Shields also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 10 ounces or more of cocaine base, and participating in a conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO. Shields also is accused of participating in the attempted murder on Sept. 4, 2006, of a person identified only as "C.A.," and in the Dec. 27, 2007, shooting of "B.P." Those killings, along with the murders of Meade and Lane, were payback shootings, according to a federal proffer signed by Shields in April. A lengthy federal investigation into the gang, named for its roots on Josephine Street, led to a sprawling 24-count indictment last year against Shields and seven other men, including Anderson. The indictment painted the gang as the entrenched operator of the Central City neighborhood drug trade, dating back at least to 2003. Its members were allegedly behind four murders and several other attempted murders and shootings, and the indictment describes the gang as creating a "climate of fear" through violence and threats against rivals, witnesses and victims. A jury last year convicted Anderson of five counts of capital murder for a quintuple killing in 2006 dubbed the "Central City Massacre," but the case was overturned. In March, he pleaded guiltyto helping plan Meade's murder and also in state court to five counts of manslaughter in the 2006 killing spree. Anderson agreed to serve a life in prison in a deal to avoid a possible death sentence. The indictment alleges that Anderson robbed a bicycle from Meade on July 12, 2005, was arrested the next day and got to work trying to have Meade killed so he couldn't testify. Shields allegedly set up a cell phone call with Meade and Anderson, who was in Orleans Parish jail. Meade, a father of nine, was shot dead a day later by Anderson's partner, Tony "Yay-Yo" Simmons, according to the indictment. Along with Anderson and Shields, the indictment named Simmons, 24; Theron "T.J." Jones, 21; Jeremiah Millro, 24; Corey Oliver, 22; Jerome "Buddy" Simmons, 24; and Harold "Dooley" Jones, 35. All of them have pleaded guilty in federal court to various racketeering, drug and gun charges, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
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