Federal jury convicts two Unknown Vice Lords leaders in 2019 slaying of suspected betrayer

Verdict closes trial in racketeering-linked killing

A federal jury in Memphis has convicted Edward Allen, 42, and Deandre Rodgers, 29—identified in court as high-ranking members of the Unknown Vice Lords (UVL)—for the fatal shooting of a fellow gang member in January 2019. Prosecutors argued the victim was targeted because UVL leaders believed he had betrayed the organization.

The verdict followed a one-week trial and is framed by federal authorities as part of a broader racketeering case focused on UVL, also described in court filings as “The Ghost Mob.” The organization was presented to jurors as a criminal enterprise operating across Memphis and extending into Arkansas and Mississippi, with members involved in violent crime and illicit trafficking.

What jurors heard about the 2019 sequence of events

Evidence at trial traced the killing to internal turmoil after a double homicide on January 10, 2019, when UVL’s “Supreme Elite Chief” and his girlfriend were shot to death in a residential neighborhood during daylight hours. Prosecutors said UVL members initially blamed a rival group, the Traveling Vice Lords, and carried out a drive-by shooting the same night at a location associated with that rival. At least one person was shot in that incident.

Over the following days, jurors heard, UVL members conducted their own internal inquiry and concluded that the organization’s leader had been killed by one of their own. The government’s theory was that this conclusion triggered a retaliatory killing inside the gang.

How the prosecution described the killing

Prosecutors said the victim was murdered on January 15, 2019. The government alleged that, the day before, a co-defendant—Vincent Grant, also known as “V-Slash”—provided firearms to multiple UVL members for what the group called a “demo,” a term described in court as shorthand for committing violent acts.

The government told jurors that in the early hours of January 15—around 1:00 a.m.—Allen, Rodgers, Grant and another UVL member drove the victim to the back of a rundown apartment complex. The prosecution alleged Allen and Rodgers then took the victim behind a building and executed him with guns Grant had supplied.

Charges, prior conviction, and what happens next

• Allen and Rodgers were convicted of causing death by use of a firearm during a racketeering murder.
• Sentencing is scheduled for May 11, and both men face a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal judge will determine the sentence after weighing federal sentencing guidelines and statutory factors.
• Grant was previously convicted for his role in the same killing and has been sentenced to more than 24 years in federal prison.

The case was investigated by federal agents with assistance from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, the Memphis Police Department, and the U.S. Secret Service.

The convictions mark a significant courtroom milestone in a case that prosecutors have described as aimed at disrupting UVL’s leadership structure in Memphis through federal racketeering and firearms statutes.