DENVER—A west Denver gang stole everything from SUVs to women’s underwear, sold the loot for drugs and then peddled the drugs—sometimes to children near schools, authorities said Thursday.
Attorney General John Suthers said the gang robbed at least 19 homes in Denver, its suburbs and foothills over a year’s time.
A 94-count indictment names 10 people on charges including racketeering, identity theft, burglary, conspiracy, possession of guns and drugs, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and witness tampering.
Suthers identified the alleged ringleader as 28-year-old Duy H. Nguyen (DOO’-ee NWIN) of Westminster. He was arrested Jan. 13 and is being held in Jefferson County jail on $1 million bail.
If convicted of all charges, Nguyen could face a prison term of up to 460 years.
Officials had no record of an attorney for Nguyen, and he didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment left at the jail.
The other nine suspects have been arrested, and four have been released on bail, said Suthers spokesman Nate Strauch.
The indictment claims that between October 2007 and last November, the gang stole at least eight cars and SUVs, guns, electronics, computer equipment, tools, appliances and women’s underwear from homes in Denver, the suburbs of Arvada, Westminster, Englewood and Littleton, and the mountain town of Evergreen.
The indictment also accuses five of the suspects of identity theft.
Nguyen is accused of giving drugs and cash to the other nine in exchange for the stolen property, then selling the loot to buy Ecstasy, methamphetamine and marijuana, which he allegedly sold to juveniles.
The indictment accuses him of hiring juveniles to sell drugs and claims he frequently sold drugs near elementary schools. It also claims he tried to bribe a witness with methamphetamine when he learned he was under investigation.
Suthers said searches of Nguyen’s home, office and car turned up two automatic rifles, an estimated $55,000 worth of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and Ecstasy, and stolen goods including a 61-inch flat-screen television.
