Vienna Gang Leader Convicted

At the very end of 2007, a year of work by the Vienna Police Department culminated in the conviction of Vienna resident Kenneth Maurice Wilson, 20, in Fairfax County Circuit Court, on charges of feloniously recruiting a juvenile in to a criminal street gang.

The case against Wilson began in January 2006, when the Vienna Police Department learned about a 14-year-old Vienna resident who had been recruited and "blessed in" to a Vienna chapter of a national street gang, the Gangster Disciples. According to police, "blessing in" is a method of inducting someone into a gang by having them take an oath rather than the severe beatings associated with the more common method of initiation, the "beat in " or "jump in."

The Gangster Disciples are thought to have originated in Chicago, and have been linked to numerous murders, robberies, assaults and drug trafficking. Active sets have been identified in multiple locations in Northern Virginia, and crimes committed by gang members in Northern Virginia include mob assault, aggravated assault, robbery and graffiti offenses, police said.

An extensive investigation by the Vienna Police revealed that Wilson was present at the "blessing in" of the juvenile, and was actually the leader of the Vienna chapter of the Gangster Disciples. According to police, Wilson joined the gang in Trenton, N.J. and had formed the local set during the summer of 2005. The set eventually grew to include at least 10 identified members and associates, ranging in age from 13 to approximately 20 years old.

The Vienna Police worked with the Northern Virginia Gang Task Force on the case, and that organization eventually led to the discovery that Vienna's Gangster Disciples were actively communicating with an Arlington chapter of the criminal organization. Wilson's sentencing is set for Feb. 8.

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