Third District Citizens Advisory Council

Metropolitan Police Department

3rd District Headquarters - 1620 V Street, NW

Stanley J. Mayes, Chairman
3DCitizensAdvisoryCouncil@gmail.com

Honorable Judge Lynn Leibovitz
District of Columbia Superior Court
Moultrie Courthouse
500 Indiana Avenue NW
Washington DC 200001

Re: Sentencing Hearing June 13, 2014, Courtroom 202, for:
Robert Givens, 21, 2010 CF1 014920;
Keir Johnson, 24, 2011 CF1 023407;
Lester Williams, 26, 2011 CF1 023394;
Marcellus Jackson, 25, 2011 CF1 023408

Honorable Judge Lynn Leibovitz:

On Thursday, May 29, 2014, at a regularly scheduled public meeting, the Third District Citizens Advisory Council
voted to authorize the issuance of a Community Impact Statement (CIS) for the sentencing of Robert Givens, Keir
Jackson, Lester Williams and Marcellus Jackson and that said CIS be submitted to the District of Columbia
Superior Court and the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.

One of the primary roles of government is to keep citizens safe. The street sales of illegal drugs are often
accompanied by violence, threats of violence and illegal weapons as street gang members seek to protect their
perceived drug sale territory. The communities served by the Third District Citizens Advisory Council have been
plagued by the menace of drug-related gang violence for decades. Messrs Givens, Johnson, Williams and
Jackson are before you because of their involvement in perpetuating these deadly activities in our area.

Not one of these men is guilty of an isolated offense. In previous contacts with the criminal justice system, each of
these men has surely been warned on several occasions by the Court, their attorneys, law enforcement and
others to discontinue such illegal activities and pursue a more civilized and productive path. They have clearly
chosen to ignore such advice and warnings.

For several years, several neighborhoods in the Third District have been a part of the District of Columbias
exciting revitalization, with new residents, businesses and both high paying and low skilled jobs locating
locally. Many developers and business owners have demonstrated a willingness to ignore irrelevant criminal
histories of potential hires and provided desperately needed jobs to those who are willing to put in an honest days
work, show up regularly on time and drug free, take pride in being a part of the resurgence of our community, and
provide for their families. The men before you today refused to take advantage of such local opportunities.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC), states that a staggering 80% of gun homicides are gang-related. If we can
discourage and reduce gang related gun violence by and remove such violent persons from our streets, we could
make our communities dramatically safer. It is truly regrettable that these men were being brought to court because of
their involvement in the murders and threatening behavior toward rival gang members. But it should not be overlooked
that the violence they perpetuated in the community after a funeral, on a school campus and on a popular commercial
corridor of the city have a profound and devastating effect on the community. Crimes such as these make young
children and their parents fearful of enjoying the public spaces that should be the safest facilities in our city. Such
crimes make long time resident senior citizens fearful of walking our streets alone. The fear of gun violence also drives
those who have chosen to purchase and rent homes in the city to move to other parts of the District or out of the District
entirely and taking their taxable income and spending with them. Such violent activity destroys communities.

Third District Citizens Advisory Council will not tolerate gang related crime and violence in the vicinity of locations
where young children should be able to learn and play safely and where our seniors and local families should be
able to walk freely at all hours of the day.
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It has long been widely known that drug dealers often prey upon, recruit and corrupt children into their criminal
endeavors. During one of the hearings in this case, Ricardo Epps, an incarcerated member of a violent drug
gang, testied that he and his associates involved children as young as 14 and 15 years old in their drug activities
and routinely violently attacked innocent people for sport. The fact that these drug gangs also prey upon and
exploit those with substance addiction, mental illness, women and other vulnerable persons for prot make their
deadly trade one that we as a community are eager to eradicate.
The behaviors of the men before you
today have been a menace to the peace,
tranquility and safety of our community.
Our community will not stand by while
they are given a sentences that amount
to mere slaps on the wrist. Their
sentences must send a crystal clear
message to their other associates that
menacing gang behavior and gun related
violence deserve long-term
incarceration.

Third District Citizens Advisory Council
recommends that you give Messrs
Givens, Johnson, Williams and Jackson
the maximum sentence in their respective cases and urge you to ensure that his sentence includes meaningful
and effective psychotherapy, counseling and job preparedness and skills training before they are released back
into the community.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Third District Citizens Advisory Council.

Stanley J. Mayes
Chairman
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According the MPD Third District
statistics for the past year, gun
related crime and other violent
crimes have been on the rise.