Gang Members Convicted of Gun Possession

DATE: August 20, 2018

CASE: Raheem Thomas, Adrien Hines, Isaiah Taylor (Case #18FE002528)

PROSECUTOR: Deputy District Attorney Nicholas Johnson, Targeting Armed Recidivist Gang Enforcement Team (TARGET)

Raheem Thomas and Adrien Hines were convicted by a jury of being a felon in possession of a firearm with a gang enhancement.  Isaiah Taylor was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm with a gang enhancement.

On February 7, 2018, Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies had information that Raheem Thomas had an outstanding warrant.  When deputies contacted Thomas, he was in the driver’s seat of a parked vehicle.  When they went to remove Thomas from the vehicle, they found a semiautomatic handgun on the front passenger floorboard.  The firearm was fully loaded with a round in the chamber. Thomas later stated that he was a gang member, but denied knowing about the firearm.  Adrien Hines and Isaiah Taylor were with Thomas at the time.  Hines later gave a statement that the gun will have his DNA and fingerprints on it, but denied owning, using or knowing it was in the vehicle.  Deputies also found a firearm in Taylor’s front left pocket.  The firearm was fully loaded with a round in the chamber.  Taylor later gave a statement admitting the gun was his, and that he was a gang member.

Additional allegations that Thomas has a prior 2016 conviction for carrying a concealed gun for the benefit of a criminal street gang and that Hines has a prior 2016 conviction for discharging a firearm at an unoccupied vehicle and a prior 2014 conviction for inflicting corporal injury on spouse will be determined at the sentencing hearing.

Thomas faces a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison.  Hines faces a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison.  Taylor faces a maximum sentence of 7 years in prison.  Sentencing for Thomas and Taylor is set for September 12, 2018, at 9:00 a.m.  Hines will be sentenced on October 5, 2018, at 9:00 a.m.  Both sentencings will be in Department 39 before the Honorable David Abbott.