SYRACUSE -- Another member of the V-NOT Gang was in Syracuse Court today. 25-year-old Donald Johnson pleaded guilty to an indictment that charged him and ten other people with conspiring to exploit their membership in the V-NOT Gang to engage in racketeering, which includes murder, attempted murder, drug trafficking and robbery, according to Syracuse Police.
Johnson is the fifth defendant to plead guilty in the case, and faces up to life in prison, with a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release following any period of incarceration, according to police.
The indictment that Johnson pleaded guilty to includes multiple acts of violence including one murder, 10 other shootings, 8 separate acts of gun possession and 18 acts of crack cocaine and/or intent to distribute, police say.
The murder was one that was previously reported by CNY Central involving allegations that Kahari Smith shot and killed Kihary Blue on I-81 in downtown Syracuse as part of an on-going fued between the V-NOT and Bricktown gangs.
The prosecution resulted from a long-term investigation by the Syracuse Gang Violence Task Force.
