MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A 36-year-old Memphis man was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison for RICO conspiracy tied to armed robberies and methamphetamine distribution carried out on behalf of Young Mob, a Memphis-based gang founded in 2007, the Department of Justice announced.
Larry Wilson, also known as “L,” admitted to attempting and committing a robbery and distributing methamphetamine as part of a pattern of racketeering activity for Young Mob. In June 2024, Wilson and multiple other members and associates of the gang robbed at gunpoint three customers at a Memphis tattoo shop. Wilson also distributed and conspired to distribute methamphetamine with other Young Mob members.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for the Western District of Tennessee, and Special Agent in Charge Jamey VanVliet of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Nashville Field Division made the announcement. The case is part of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime Initiative in Memphis, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee and local, state, and federal law enforcement.
The robbery plot unfolded over two days after federal investigators intercepted wire and electronic communications between Wilson and other Young Mob members by court order from March 14, 2024, through June 13, 2024. Those intercepted communications revealed that Wilson and certain Young Mob members were conspiring to distribute large quantities of controlled substances including fentanyl and methamphetamine, and were committing acts of violence as part of a pattern of racketeering activity.
On June 11, 2024, Wilson and co-conspirator Braxton Beck, also known as “B Mack,” attempted to rob a customer at the Therapeutic Ink tattoo shop in Memphis. When investigators learned of the plot, they dispatched Memphis Police Department marked units to the shop, and the Young Mob co-conspirators abandoned their plan.
The next day, Wilson, Beck, and others learned that the same customer had returned to the tattoo shop and hatched a second robbery plot. Investigators again dispatched MPD marked units, believing the deployment had succeeded. But Wilson, Beck, and others returned to the tattoo shop after police units left the area. Wilson and Beck, both armed with firearms, stormed the shop and robbed three individuals, including the customer who was the original target.
Beck previously pleaded guilty to his role in the tattoo shop robbery as part of the RICO conspiracy and was sentenced to 10 years in prison on May 12, 2026.
The ATF and the Memphis Police Department and Multiagency Gang Unit are investigating the case. Trial Attorneys Brian P. Leaming and Amanda Kotula of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section are prosecuting.
The same week, federal courts handed down sentences in two other firearms cases under the Department of Justice’s enforcement initiatives. In South Dakota, Cecle Crist, 53, of Hot Springs, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Crist, a convicted felon, had threatened to kill law enforcement officers and claimed to have a gun when officers from the Fall River County Sheriff’s Office and the Hot Springs Police Department attempted to arrest him on a federal warrant in November 2025. After the Rapid City Special Response Team fired several rounds of OC powder into the camper where Crist lived, he surrendered. Officers recovered three loaded rifles, a pellet gun, and several rounds of ammunition. Crist pleaded guilty on March 9, 2026, and was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. U.S. Attorney Ron Parsons announced the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson as part of Operation Take Back America and Project Safe Neighborhoods.
In Boston, Joshua Morency, 28, of Dorchester, Mass., was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to 78 months in prison for firearms trafficking. Morency pleaded guilty in March 2026 to dealing in firearms without a license and possessing a machinegun. Over the course of an investigation that began in August 2025, Morency sold 17 firearms in undercover controlled purchases, 16 of which were 3D-printed, privately made firearms commonly known as “ghost guns.” Morency was arrested and charged in November 2025 and will serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
The three cases reflect the Department of Justice’s coordinated push against firearms-related violent crime across multiple federal districts, with the Memphis case falling under the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime Initiative and the South Dakota case under Operation Take Back America, which targets violent crime, illegal immigration, and transnational criminal organizations.