By JOHN SIMMONDS
Hays Post
The Ellis County Attorney’s office recently prosecuted five members of what county attorney Tom Drees said was a “wannabe gang.” According to Drees, five individuals, two of whom are juveniles, identified themselves as members of a gang called “187 Crips.” Drees added their affiliation was self-proclaimed and there was no indication the five were officially tied to any known street gangs.
According to Drees, the group lured a 17-year-old to the home of one of the defendants, where four of the five allegedly beat the victim while the fifth watched. The victim suffered bruising to the face, head, chest, body and legs as well as a chipped tooth, severely bruised shoulder and ribs, and a badly strained wrist.
“Explanation given by the defendants who gave an explanation,” Drees said, “was that he had identified them as members of the gang, in violation of their code.”
The group’s self-proclaimed gang affiliation pushes the allegations under a special provision of Kansas sentencing guidelines. Under Kansas law, if it is shown at sentencing that an offender committed a felony for the benefit of or at the direction of, or in any association with a “criminal street gang,” the court has the option to impose a prison sentence rather than probation.
Judge Glenn R. Braun ordered extended jurisdiction juvenile prosecution for the minors, which means they have a juvenile sentence they are on probation for, and they also have an adult sentence that is imposed. If the children violate their juvenile probation, they will serve the adult sentence with the Department of Corrections.
The following were sentenced:
Derek James Reniker
Age: 16
Charges: Aggravated battery level 7 person felony with a special provision for claiming to be a member of a street gang.
Sentenced to 24 months probation with intensive supervision through the juvenile justice authority. Underlying adult sentence is 12 months underlying with probation for 24 months. Reniker had a prior juvenile conviction for battery.
Brennon Christopher Hilton
Age: 16
Charges: Aggravated battery level 7 person felony; felony level 8 criminal threat with a special provision for claiming to be a member of a street gang.
Sentenced to 12 months probation with intensive supervision through the juvenile justice authority. Underlying sentence is 12 months on the battery and six months on the criminal threat.
Jacob Leo Towns
Age: 21
Charges: aggravated battery level 7 person felony with a special provision for claiming to be a member of a street gang.
Sentenced to 24 months probation through community corrections. Underlying sentence of 27 months. Probation to start after serving time in another criminal threat case, for which probation was revoked and Towns is serving with community corrections.
* There is currently a motion to revoke probation on the aggravated battery case as Towns was arrested in Rooks County on Dec. 3 for two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child.
Andrew Sanchez Cervantes
Age: 30
Charges: attempted aggravated battery level 7 person felony with a special provision for claiming to be a member of a street gang.
Sentenced to 12 months probation under supervision of community corrections with an underlying sentence of 12 months. Probation to run consecutive to probation from a previous case of attempted aggravated battery.
Tyler Joseph Flinn
Age: 20
Charges: aggravated battery level 7 person felony with a special provision for claiming to be a member of a street gang.
Sentenced to 24 months probation through community corrections with underlying sentence of 12 months.
Drees said probation through community corrections is a middle ground between standard probation through court services and serving prison time. Community corrections is more intensive supervision, including more frequent urinalysis, more meetings with probation officers, and surveillance officers randomly visiting the homes and jobs of those on probation to verify their location.
“I don’t want to send out the message that Hays now has gangs, “ Drees added, “but we do take very serious when people want to talk about being in a gang or claiming to affiliate with a gang, obviously that ratchets up law enforcement taking a look at them. The purpose of street gangs is to promote crimes and violence, and we don’t want that. We don’t want to see that in Ellis County.”