Members of the so-called "Wolf Pack" Gang Proclaiming Innocence

By Dave McCleary
Fri, Jun 5, 2009

On Monday, April 27, 2009 Rochester Police Department (RPD) arrested a group of residents of the Beechwood neighborhood on Rochester’s east side. According to local media accounts of the incident, 21 people were arrested but a total of 24 individuals are being charged with belonging to an organized crime group called the Chain Gang, also known as the Wolf Pack.

An April 29, 2009 article in the Democrat and Chronicle written by Claudia Vargas reads, “Bret Puscheck, chief of the Rochester Division for the Western New York U.S. Attorney’s Office, said Tuesday that the primary function of gang members was to profit from the sale of crack cocaine and though they were not high-level drug dealers, they were a violent and dangerous group. ‘They protected their turf through violence and intimidation,’ Puscheck said.”

The individuals arrested are also being charged with the June 16, 2007 shooting death of Carmella Rogers, 15, on 63 Rohr St. and at least four attempted murders that have not been identified. Reports say they were involved in at least 353 incidents since Jan. 1, 2006.

They are being prosecuted under the ‘Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act’, a federal statue also called the RICO act. RICO was intended to eradicate organized crime by attacking the sources of its revenue, such as syndicated gambling or bookmakers. The statute imposes both criminal imprisonment from 20 years to life, depending on the racketeering activity involved and civil liability including damages, costs and attorneys fees for persons who engage in certain prohibited acts. According to Jeffrey Rodefer, a former Assistant Attorney General for the State of Nevada, the statute provides “new weapons of unprecedented scope for an assault upon organized crime and its economic roots.”

But individuals arrested and their supporters are saying there is no such organization called the Chain Gang or the Wolf Pack. In a community meeting Thursday at 345 Parsells Avenue members of Activists Against Racism Movement (AARM) insist that there was no basis or foundation to support racketeering charges filed against those arrested. “The use of the RICO statute in these arrests is absolutely unfounded and unconstitutional,” the group said in a statement.

AARM, whose mission is to expose, confront, and actively oppose racism and increase awareness, knowledge, and participation in anti-racism work, says local media coverage of the so-called “Chain Gang” or “Wolf Pack” has been biased.

“The only crime we are guilty of is love and caring for each other,” explained Janice Snipes. “These are people who came to my house, who I cooked for and took care of. We do not belong to any gang.” Snipes was arrested and released on April 27 as well. She is on a mission to clear her name and that of her friends.

Snipes, who has worked as a cook for the University of Rochester for the past five years, admits that she had had some “run-ins” with the law but says she refuses to go to jail for crimes she did not commit. “We were not an organization, we did not organize anything. We are friends who have known each other for years. If anyone committed a crime, they committed it on their own,” she explains.

Snipe’s mother, Gwendolyn, says the name Wolf Pack was a ‘pet-name’ she gave to a group of neighborhood kids she used to cook for. She notes that back around 2003 when she lived in the Grand Avenue neighborhood she noticed some young people who were hanging out all the time. “When I would get home from work, I would sometimes sit and talk to the young people, asking them if they’d gone to school or not that day,” she reminisces.

“One day my son James said to me, ‘Momma, I think that some of those kids are hungry. If I go to Wegmans and get some food, would you cook for them?’ A while later, while I was cooking, James kiddingly said, ‘Momma, those kids are hanging around like a pack of wolves, waiting to eat.’ When I finished cooking, I said to him, ‘call in the wolf pack.’ That marked the beginning of our relationship with the neighborhood youth. From that day on, the youth began to hang around quite a bit, and we fondly called them the wolf pack.”

Later that year, Gwendolyn’s son James and five other neighborhood youth were killed in a car accident. “To memorialize my son, we had t-shirts made that had the date of his birth and death on the front and the words ‘wolf pack’ on the back,” she said.

Gwendolyn, whose other son, Lincoln Williams, was murdered in 2006 says over the years she became fond of the youth. “They would come around on Thanksgiving, New Year’s, and Easter and on James’ birthday, January 8th. We had become like a family in many ways”. “When we memorialized Lincoln, we had more t-shirts printed up and we still used the words ‘wolf pack’ on those shirts too.”

Janice Snipes says she is willing to accept responsibility for anything she has done in her past “but I am not guilty of murdering anyone or being involved with anyone’s murder.”

She continues by explaining, “when they [law enforcement personnel] told me about the murder I almost fell off my chair. I could not believe it.”

AARM representative say they are working to not only help the individuals currently being charged but to prevent law enforcement personnel from using the same tactics on others in the community.

There are many inconsistencies and questionable allegations made by law enforcement personnel in the handling of this case, AARM explains.

According to unconfirmed reports, all 24 individuals charged have been given court appointed attorneys. “If these individuals are a part of an organized crime group how come they don’t even have money to get a lawyer?” asked AARM member, Howard Eagle.

“There are two sides to every story,” Eagle noted.

Please give us your feedback, comments, etc...

Back to Home Page