Police searched two gang stash houses at a Cleveland apartment complex and found more than 300 grams of fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine, plus seven firearms. That evidence helped federal prosecutors win convictions against three members of the Fully Blooded Felons, a gang FBI Cleveland calls the city’s “most significant gang threat.” After a three-week trial, a federal jury in Cleveland found Raven Mullins, 37, Malik Brooks, 28, and Jayon Florence, 23, all of Cleveland, guilty of crimes that include RICO murder, RICO conspiracy, RICO kidnapping, drug trafficking and gun offenses. The Justice Department announced the verdict on November 5, 2026. With these verdicts, 25 Fully Blooded Felon members have now been charged and convicted under the federal indictment.

Inside the Fully Blooded Felons Case: Stash Houses, Drugs and Guns

Trial evidence showed that the gang has operated in Ohio since about 2012. It worked mainly out of Cleveland’s east side and also in Akron, Youngstown and other cities, and it has a foothold inside the Ohio prison system. Prosecutors said the gang kept two separate stash houses at a local apartment complex. When officers served two search warrants there, they recovered the 300-plus grams of fentanyl, cocaine and meth and the seven guns. The Justice Department did not break the total down by drug or give a street value.

Earlier court filings described the drug operation in more detail. When prosecutors unsealed a 33-count superseding indictment against 15 members in 2024, they said the gang used two apartments at the Cedar Estates in Cleveland to store drugs and guns and to sell drugs to customers. That indictment also accused one co-defendant of traveling to Texas and Arizona to get kilogram quantities of fentanyl pills for distribution in Northeast Ohio. It also alleged that the gang ran a drug smuggling ring inside several Ohio state prisons and federal detention centers. Those were allegations in a charging document. (For background on counterfeit pills, see our explainer on how fake fentanyl “M30s” are made and why they kill.)

The case was later expanded. In December 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio unsealed a second superseding indictment against 18 members and associates. It added charges including murder, kidnapping and assault in aid of racketeering, along with firearms and drug trafficking counts. Prosecutors said at the time that the gang modeled itself on a Mafia crime family and ran an open-air drug market in the Cedar Central neighborhood for years.

A Mafia-Style Hierarchy and Two Killings Shown at Trial

Prosecutors said Mullins oversaw the “Commission,” the gang’s governing body. The Commission enforced the organization’s structure through physical discipline, chose the illegal ways the gang made money, and decided punishments for rule “violations,” ranging from fines to death. It had a Head Commissioner and 10 subordinate Commissioners. Below them were “Capos,” each leading up to 25 members. Members had to follow a code of silence and memorize a set of rules called the “Fully Five.”

The trial centered on the killing of a woman the gang suspected of dating a rival gang member and passing information to him. According to the evidence, members held her in an apartment around July 28, 2022, and Mullins ordered others, including Brooks and Florence, to beat and choke her. After going through her phone, gang members concluded she planned to give a rival gang Brooks’ location. The next day, with Mullins’ approval, Brooks, Florence and others drove her to Cleveland’s west side and shot her 19 times. Her body was left in a stolen Kia Optima.

Jurors also heard evidence of other crimes:

• From June 30 to July 5, 2022, Mullins and other members kidnapped and assaulted a 22-year-old woman who had told police a gang member was involved in a robbery. She was eventually released.
• On Sept. 12, 2023, Mullins and two other members robbed and killed a second victim on the west side. A knife sheath with Mullins’ DNA was found at the scene.
• Brooks shot two rival gang members on the west side on July 18 and July 20, 2022.

U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer said the verdicts show that when gang members terrorize communities, “we make it our business to lock them in a cage far from home.”

Federal RICO and Drug Penalties: Life in Prison Possible

The Justice Department said all three defendants face up to life in prison. The release did not list which counts each man was convicted on. For the most serious charges in the case, violent crimes in aid of racketeering under 18 U.S.C. § 1959, the law sets these penalties:

• Murder: death or life imprisonment.
• Kidnapping: any term of years up to life.
• Attempting or conspiring to commit murder or kidnapping: up to 10 years.

The drug counts fall under the federal Controlled Substances Act. Mandatory minimum sentences there depend on the specific drug and its weight. The Justice Department reported only a combined total of more than 300 grams across three drugs, so it is not clear which penalty tier applies. Our guide to federal mandatory minimums by drug and weight explains how those thresholds work.

Some co-defendants have already been sentenced. In one earlier case, FBI Cleveland reported that member Jeffrey Lee, 25, received 12 years in prison. Lee had pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy, drug offenses including fentanyl distribution, and possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.

Cleveland’s Overdose Picture: Fentanyl Deaths Down, Cocaine Rising

The convictions come as Cuyahoga County’s drug crisis changes. In a July 2026 release, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office reported total overdose deaths falling from 635 in 2023 to 419 in 2024 and 363 in 2025. It also reported a 70% drop in fentanyl-involved deaths over two years. That left cocaine as the leading drug in the county’s overdose deaths. Local reporting on the office’s figures put fentanyl deaths at 276 in 2024 and 140 in 2025.

That progress has slipped recently. On November 6, 2026, Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Gilson issued a public health alert about a “sustained increase” in suspected overdose deaths during October and November: 40 suspected deaths over five weeks. Most preliminary screenings were positive for cocaine, and half also showed fentanyl.

Statewide, the Ohio Department of Health reported that unintentional overdose deaths fell 34% in 2024 to 2,931. That was down from a 2021 peak of 5,174 and marked the third straight year of decline. For the national trend, see our report on where U.S. overdose deaths stand after three years of decline.

What Happens Next for Mullins, Brooks and Florence

The court has not set a sentencing date. Before sentencing, federal probation officers will prepare presentence reports, and the judge will consider the federal sentencing guidelines along with any statutory minimums attached to the convictions. The defendants can appeal after they are sentenced.

The FBI led the years-long investigation with help from the Cleveland Division of Police, ATF and DEA. Other contributors included the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office, the Ohio Adult Parole Authority, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the U.S. Marshals Service. Trial Attorney Brian W. Lynch and former Trial Attorney Alyssa Levey-Weinstein of the Justice Department’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section prosecuted the case. They worked with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul E. Hanna, Rachael E. Wood, Robert F. Corts and Margaret A. Sweeney. Because the case involved a multi-city enterprise, it was brought federally rather than in state court; our explainer on federal vs. state drug charges covers how prosecutors make that choice.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Joshua DelManzo said the bureau will keep working to “identify, investigate, disrupt, and dismantle gangs” in northern Ohio.