Five gang members sentenced for armed carjackings

The "Top 5" gang was active on social media, using it to recruit others, discuss plans to commit crime, and post their exploits.

Top row, from left to right: Joshoamei Richardson, Jordan Rhodes, and Clifton Walker. Bottom row, left to right: James William, and Isaiah Alstad.

Five Minnesota gang members have now received prison sentences for their roles in a series of armed carjackings.

In a Thursday news release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced a guilty plea from 23-year-old Isaiah Stacy Alstad on two counts of aiding and abetting carjacking.

For his crimes, Alstad will now serve 110 months in prison, or just over 9 years.

Alstad was one of six young men involved in a string of three carjackings in St. Paul during the early morning hours of Aug. 25, 2020. Court documents show that the perpetrators carjacked and pistol-whipped their first victim around 2:30 a.m., with two others carjacked at gunpoint around 6:50 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., respectively.

The six young men — Alstad, James Brock Williams (21), Clifton Germaine Walker, Jr. (25), Jordan Sydney Shamah Rhodes (23), Joshoamei Deangelo Richardson (21), and Eric Troy Ballard, Jr. (20) — all belonged to the “Top 5” street gang at the time of the carjackings.

According to the Justice Department, “the purpose of the gang was to make money for its members through criminal acts, including thefts, robberies, and distribution and sale of controlled substances. Proceeds of the money obtained through the commission of criminal acts were distributed among the Top 5 members.”

The “Top 5” gang was active on social media, using it to recruit others, discuss plans to commit crime, and post their exploits.

Every gang member involved in the case has now been sentenced except for Ballard. Williams has already received a 56-month sentence and Walker a 110-month sentence for conspiracy to use, carry, and brandish firearms while carrying out a carjacking.

Rhodes has also been sentenced to 72 months (6 years) in prison for using a “controlled substance” while in possession of a firearm, while Richardson received 84 months (7 years) for aiding and abetting conspiracy to use, carry, and brandish firearms while carrying out a carjacking.

 

Evan Stambaugh

Evan Stambaugh is a freelance writer who had previously been a sports blogger. He has a BA in theology and an MA in philosophy.