U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that SIDNEY PATTERSON, a/k/a “Duda Man” age 24,of New Orleans, was sentenced today after having previously been found guilty of violating the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization Act “RICO,” as well as drug conspiracy, firearms conspiracy and murder charges.
U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan sentenced PATTERSON to serve the remainder of his life in prison.
In August 2015, PATTERSON, DELOYD JONES and BYRON JONES were convicted following an eight-day trial. According to evidence presented at trial, the defendants were members of the “Ride or Die” gang, which they also referred to as “R.O.D.” The Ride or Die gang was initially formed in or about 2007 and continued to exist through in or about 2013. During the course of the federal investigation into the gang, agents learned that the defendants used a house, located at 1632 Mandeville Street, among other locations, as a base of operations to package, sell, and store narcotics, as well as store firearms. The gang controlled the St. Roch neighborhood for its narcotics distribution activities through violence and threats of violence, to include murder, attempted murder, and assaults. The jury found PATTERSON guilty of one murder and two attempted murders.
The defendants were three of twelve defendants charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine base and possess firearms in furtherance of their drug trafficking crimes. DELOYD JONES and BYRON JONES were previously sentenced to life in prison. Prior to trial, nine defendants pled guilty to various charges. ANDREALIE LEWIS was previously sentenced to 48 months incarceration; TYONE BURTON was previously sentenced to 121 months of incarceration; ERVIN SPOONER and PERRY WILSON were each previously sentenced to 108 months of incarceration; TRE CLEMENTS was previously sentenced to 96 months of incarceration; NYSON JONESwas previously sentenced to 87 months of incarceration; ROMALIS PARKER was previously sentenced to 70 months of incarceration; TYRONE BURTON and MORRIS SUMMERS were each previously sentenced to 60 months of incarceration.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as part of the metro area’s Multi-Agency Gang Unit (MAG) in investigating this matter. As an integral component of NOLA FOR LIFE’s Group Violence Reduction Strategy, the MAG Unit consists of a partnership with New Orleans Police Department (NOPD); Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office (DA); Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office (OPSO); Louisiana State Police (LSP); Parole Board of the Louisiana Department of Corrections; United States Attorney’s Office (USAO); Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); United States Marshal’s Service (USMS); and the United States Probation & Parole Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Assistant United States Attorneys Nolan D. Paige and Marquest Meeks, along with former Special Assistant United States Attorney Brian Ebarb, who was assigned from the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office, were in charge of the prosecution.