WASHINGTON—A Las Vegas man pleaded guilty today in federal court to conspiring to conduct a racketeering enterprise as a member of the Playboy Bloods criminal street gang, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden of the District of Nevada.
Steven Booth, 27, aka “Stevie-P,” pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Phillip Pro in the District of Nevada to one count of conspiracy to engage in a racketeering enterprise.
According to court documents, the Bloods is a criminal street organization whose members engage in drug trafficking and acts of violence. The Playboy Bloods is a local affiliate of the Bloods, with control and operation within the Las Vegas metropolitan area. A subset of the Playboy Bloods is Full Throttle Clique, a group made up of Playboy Bloods members who engage in acts of violence, including murder.
According to Booth’s plea agreement, he is a member of the Playboy Bloods and the Full Throttle Clique. Booth pleaded guilty to conspiring to conduct and participate in the conduct of the affairs of the Playboy Bloods through a pattern of racketeering activity.
According to court documents, Booth aided and abetted the murder of security guard Brian Wilcox in the Jets housing complex located in Playboy Blood controlled territory in Las Vegas. On approximately January 20, 2004, Wilcox and another security guard approached Booth and several other Playboy Bloods and told them they had to leave the property. An argument ensued, and the security guards rode away on their bicycles to call for backup. According to court documents, a Playboy Blood fired a gun at Wilcox, hitting him three times, and Booth and the others fled the scene. On January 21, 2004, Wilcox was pronounced dead.
Booth also pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the murder of Billy Thomas. On October 31, 2004, Playboy Bloods and Full Throttle member Quazi Burns was murdered, and Playboy Bloods members believed that a rival Crips gang member was responsible for the crime. That night, according to court documents, several Playboy Bloods members, including the defendant, met at the Jets complex and discussed retaliating against the Crips. Booth and the other Playboy Bloods members got into two cars and spotted Billy Ray Thomas, who was working on his car, at Pecos Terrace Apartments in Las Vegas. According to court documents, several Playboy Bloods’ members got out of the cars carrying firearms, approached Thomas, and shot and killed him, believing that he was a Crips gang member.
At sentencing, scheduled for April 5, 2013, Booth faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Booth is one of 10 defendants charged in October 2008 with conducting racketeering activity through the Playboy Bloods criminal enterprise. To date, six defendants have pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison on this indictment.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas D. Dickinson and Phillip N. Smith, Jr. of the District of Nevada and Trial Attorney Kevin L. Rosenberg of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section. The case was investigated by the FBI and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
