MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Federal prosecutors have charged 21 people in the Memphis area and shut down a corner store as part of a joint effort with local law enforcement to reduce violent crime in the Mid-South.
U.S. Attorney Kevin Ritz joined the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Memphis Police Department, Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Marshals, and Homeland Security to announce the charges and indictments Friday.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the series of coordinated arrests were made after a months-long multi-agency operation targeting firearms trafficking, drugs, conspiracy, and other offenses.
Ritz said the ATF and MPD began the investigation by analyzing gun and crime statistics, as well as looking at 911 calls regarding shots fired, to identify areas of Memphis with the most gun crime. They then began investigating several locations across the city and Shelby County, including the Save a Stop 2 store in the 2700 block of Kimball Avenue, which the ATF and investigators raided on Oct. 5, 2023.
Shelby County D.A. Steve Mulroy said his office has a court order to shut down the Save a Stop 2 store as a public nuisance and “danger to the community,” based on “excessive” illegal gun and drug crimes on the property.
The U.S. Attorney said between 2022 and 2023 911 calls to the Save a Stop 2 store showed reports of armed persons, drug overdoses, shots fired, aggravated and simple assaults, auto thefts, fights, drug sales, and other disturbances – many of which happened in the public parking lot during business hours.
The U.S. Attorney said the investigation led to nine indictments or complaints and federal charges for 21 people. He said 91 firearms were bought or seized – six of which had machine gun conversion switches, and investigators also bought or seized meth, cocaine, fentanyl, and more.
The following people have been charged, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office:
- Marvis Harris, 49, Christopher Butts, 41, and Antoinette Ozier, 41, were indicted together on drug distribution charges. In the same indictment:
- Harris and Butts were charged with conspiracy to distribute drugs as well as distribution of drugs.
- Butts and Ozier were charged as felons in possessions of firearms and for possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
- Harris was also charged as a felon in possession of a firearm, illegal possession of machine guns, and with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
- Ozier was charged with using a premises for the purpose of manufacturing or distributing drugs.
- Ernell Paige, 45, was charged in an indictment with possessing drugs with intent to distribute and with distribution of drugs.
- Indicted together were Ulandus Mayes, 34, and Christopher Watts, 39, for engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a federal firearms license and for being felons in possession of a firearm. Mayes was additionally charged with distribution of drugs and possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
- Enrique Cardenas-Otra, 41, was charged as a felon in possession of a firearm and for engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a federal firearms license.
- Xavier Ashford, 30, and Marquez Glover, 21, were both charged with distribution of drugs.
- Indicted together were Leedell Otis, 46, Ricky Brooks, 41, and Jeremiah Otis, 34. In the same indictment:
- Leedell Otis and Ricky Brooks were also charged with being felons in possession of firearms.
- In addition, Leedell Otis and Jeremiah Otis were charged with distribution of narcotics, and use and carry of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
- Justin Bankhead, 33, was charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
- Indicted together were Jamar Anderson, 27, Tijerol Crawford, 33, Raymond Greenwood, 39, Broderick Harper, 26, Benjamin Jones, 28, Octavius McMullen, 32, and Larry Raiford, 58. In the same indictment:
- Anderson, Jones, Crawford, Greenwood, and McMullen were also charged with being felons in possession of firearms.
- Anderson, Jones, Raiford, and Crawford were charged with distribution of narcotics.
- Harper and Jones were charged with possession of a machine gun conversion device.
- Crawford was charged with carrying and using a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
- Adrian Seymour, 37, was indicted for being a felon in possession of a firearm, distribution of narcotics, and use and carry of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
“We have a serious gun violence problem in Memphis and strong law enforcement partnership is one of our most effective tools for addressing it,” said United States Attorney Kevin Ritz. “This was an extensive, well-coordinated, and sustained effort to identify and take down some of our community’s most dangerous repeat offenders, serial shooters, and firearms trafficking rings so that we protect citizens and ensure our city’s safety.”
“For months, ATF agents and our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners have been investigating violent criminals who have terrorized Memphis,” said ATF Director Steve Dettelbach. “The results are now clear: more than 20 arrests; nearly 100 seized firearms, including guns outfitted with machine gun conversion devices; and large quantities of narcotics – including fentanyl. All done better than ever using crime gun intelligence to catch the worst of the worst."
“The dozens of charges and arrests announced today represent what federal, state, and local law enforcement can accomplish when we work hand-in-hand to take violent criminals and trigger-pullers off our streets,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco.
“Thanks to the great work of the ATF and our local law enforcement, we were able to file a nuisance action to shut down a breeding ground of crime in the community which had long degraded neighborhood residents' safety and quality of life,” said District Attorney Mulroy.