PITTSBURGH, PA – A former resident of the Hill District neighborhood of the City of Pittsburgh, has been sentenced in federal court to 12 years (144 months) of incarceration followed by five years of federal supervised release on his conviction for violating the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act (commonly known as “RICO”), Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today.
United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on Sydney Pack, 23, who pled guilty in April 2021 to one count of RICO conspiracy.
According to information presented to the Court at the time of Pack’s guilty plea, Mr. Pack acknowledged that he was a member of the violent street gang known as “11 Hunnit,” which operated in the Hill District neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Mr. Pack acknowledged that he, along with alleged codefendants Dionte Griffin, Richard Kelly, and others, conspired to conduct and participate in the conduct in the affairs of the 11 Hunnit gang through a pattern of racketeering activity consisting generically of acts involving murder, robbery, and the distribution of controlled substances.
Mr. Pack acknowledged his personal participation in certain overt acts that were done in furtherance of the RICO conspiracy, which included an April 2015 shooting of a rival gang member, a January 2016 shooting of a rival gang member, an October 2016 shooting of a rival gang member, a November 2016 shooting of a rival gang member, the unlawful possession of heroin, fentanyl, and firearms on various dates, and his participation – along with other members of 11 Hunnit – in several publicly available rap music videos designed to intimidate rival gangs and enhance 11 Hunnit’s reputation as a violent enterprise.
Assistant United States Attorney Jerome A. Moschetta prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
Acting United States Attorney Kaufman commended the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, together with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Pack.
This prosecution is a result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities throughout the United States. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
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