CLEVELAND -- Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty confirmed that a top leader of the Heartless Felons has been indicted on gang activity charges and for threatening a member of Cleveland Police Department's gang unit.
Donte D. Ferguson, 28, has been charged by the grand jury with one count each of Participating in a Criminal Gang, Intimidation, Retaliation and Resisting Arrest.
Ferguson is already in the Cuyahoga County Jail having been arrested by Cleveland Police last week for possessing firearms in violation of his probation.
Ferguson is one of the founding members of the Heartless Felons.
In the case indicted today, Ferguson faces second-degree felony charges for his role in the gang and its pattern of criminal conduct that includes homicide, felonious assault and armed robbery.
In May, five other members of the gang were indicted on the same charge of Participating in a Criminal Gang, which carries a maximum 8-year prison sentence.
The State of Ohio also charges that Ferguson last month threatened a Cleveland Police detective assigned to the gang unit after encountering him in a public place.
"Today's indictments represent another step in our continuing efforts to disable both the adult and the juvenile wings of the Heartless Felons," said First Assistant County Prosecutor Duane Deskins.
"Mr. Ferguson is going to answer for his violent gang activities – and he is going to learn that we take threats against police officers very seriously."
