IN ‘DEVASTATING BLOW,’ FOUR GANGSTER DISCIPLES GET LIFE TERMS, ANOTHER GETS 32 YEARS

A sweeping federal investigation of a crew of Gangster Disciples leaders ended Thursday with a life sentence for a Naperville man.

Frank Smith, 50, is among five regional and national leaders of the gang sentenced this year on racketeering charges.

Smith, Walter Griffin, Sean Clemon and Dominique Maxwell were convicted by a jury after a six-week trial, and Anthony Dobbins pleaded guilty. All got life terms except for Dobbins, who received a 32-year prison sentence.

“Law enforcement has delivered a devastating blow to the Gangster Disciples criminal enterprise,” acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri said in a statement.

Griffin is from south suburban Glenwood. Clemon, Maxwell and Dobbins are from southern Illinois.

Clemon and Maxwell, on orders from Smith, fatally shot a Gangster Disciples member in a Missouri park in April 2018, prosecutors said. Smith allegedly texted “Mike Tyson Punch Out” to Maxwell prior to the shooting.

The next month, Griffin and Dobbins drove from southern Illinois to the South Side to kill a Gangster Disciples board member because he opposed their leadership positions, according to prosecutors, who said Dobbins shot the man in the face and back.

According to the indictment charging the men, Dobbins told Griffin in September 2014 that imprisoned Gangster Disciples founder Larry Hoover had appointed them as “board members” for the gang.

In 2021, Hoover’s lawyer said he doubted Hoover could have promoted gang members in prison while he was being held under high security.