Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Newport News man was sentenced today to nine years in prison for his role in planning and attempting to murder a rival gang member in Hampton in June 2015.

According to court documents, on June 5, 2015, Shaquone Ford, 22, along with co-defendants Martin Hunt, 20, of Newport News, Jamaree Green, 21, of Hampton, and Corey Sweetenburg, 21, of Hampton, all members of a local gang known as the 36th Street Bang Squad, drove to a Hampton high school looking for a rival gang member suspected of murdering a 36th Street Bang Squad member two days prior, on June 3, 2015. Once at the location, other 36th Street members and associates joined the group. The group followed a Hampton City school bus in two vehicles, waiting for their target to get off at a stop. When the target exited the bus, the defendants and other 36th Street members and associates chased him into an apartment complex. The defendants carried loaded firearms and planned to kill the target if he was found.

On December 7, co-defendant Green pleaded guilty to the conspiracy to murder the rival gang member and to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Green faces a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison when he is sentenced on March 2, 2018. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing will be determined by the Court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case is a product of a two-year ongoing investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Hampton Police Division and the Newport News Police Department, to address violent gang crime on the peninsula. As part of this ongoing focused effort to address violent crime, gang activities and drugs in Hampton, the Hampton Police Division has funded a full-time prosecutor to lead the federal prosecution of these cases.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Thomas L. Chittum, III, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Washington Field Division, Terry L. Sult, Chief of the Hampton Police Division, and Michael C. Grimstead, Acting Chief of the Newport News Police Department, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy E. Cross and Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard J. Zlotnick prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:17-cr--52.

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