U.S. judge in Minnesota sees no hope for gang member, locks him up for life and then some

A federal judge saw no hope for a Twin Cities gang member and imposed a sentence that ensures he’ll never leave prison.

Bloods gang member Desean Solomon, 34, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in St. Paul to life in prison plus 20 years after jurors convicted him and two others in October of racketeering and a weapons violation in connection with a murder.

At sentencing, Judge Susan Nelson said, “I was searching for a kernel of hope that you could be trusted to not be a danger to society, [but] based on your utter and complete disregard for human life, the brutality of the Bloods gang, your lack of remorse through every stage of this case ... I am left with the certainty that you will always be a threat to public safety.”

Solomon, of Richfield, is already serving a 36½-year state term for killing a man during a shootout outside a bar in north Minneapolis. But given that state sentences allow for one-third of the time to be served on supervised release, Solomon was set to leave prison in 2047.

The judge said she hopes “this sentence sends a strong message to the Bloods gang and other thriving gangs that ruthlessly terrorize this city.”

Solomon’s case grew out of the federal government turning to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) that links a series of crimes — occurring years apart — allegedly committed to enrich the Minneapolis chapter of the Bloods.

“Three years ago, as violent crime raged out of control, the U.S. Attorney’s Office made a decision to use every tool at our disposal to go after the gangs,” Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick said in a statement released following Wednesday’s sentencing. “We brought RICO charges against major Minneapolis street gangs.”

Fitzpatrick said that first of those RICO cases targeted the Bloods, and Solomon is the first trial defendant to be sentenced.

She said she wants street gang members to get the message that “the feds are coming for you. Get out, and choose a different path before it is too late.”

Two other Bloods awaiting sentencing under RICO are Michael Allen Burrell, 45, of St. Paul and Leontawan Holt, 27, of Minneapolis.

The FBI’s special agent in charge in Minneapolis, Alvin Winston, added, “Solomon chose violence as a way of life — trafficking in fear, intimidation, and death to exert power, feed criminal ambition and expand the Bloods’ grip on the streets. [This] sentence reflects the gravity of the crimes committed.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office described Solomon as having been a Blood since at least 2020 and a career criminal throughout his adult life, committing sometimes deadly crimes on behalf of the gang.

According to evidence presented at Solomon’s trial:

Solomon and other Bloods went to Broadway Pub & Grille, aka 200 Club, in June 2020 and assaulted a rival gang member in the men’s bathroom.

Moments later, a gun battle broke out outside. Solomon and another Blood fired several shots, resulting in the killing of gang rival Marcus Lashaun Banks Jr., 22, of Spring Lake Park.

On April 23, 2022, Solomon and other Bloods went to Williams Pub in the Uptown neighborhood of south Minneapolis and started a large fight between Bloods and gang rivals.

Within several minutes, the Bloods, including Solomon, left the bar and shot and killed gang rival Rayshawn E.J. Brown, 30, of St. Paul.