Goonz members: Roanoke gang beat victims, shot 1 - Roanoke.com

Prosecutors: Roanoke gang beat victims, shot 1 - Roanoke.com: "Warren Edmonds Lemons of Roanoke faces federal charges of racketeering and brandishing a gun during commission of a violent crime. The latter charge carries a seven-year minimum prison sentence to be served in addition to any penalty for another charge. This was incorrectly described in the print version of this story.
A Roanoke gang that specialized in robbing drug dealers, then turned to invading the homes of ordinary residents, beat victims with bats, a crowbar and a hammer, and shot one man, prosecutors said Wednesday.
'I participated in malicious acts toward innocent people,' said Kevin Wayne Ferguson, one of the members of the Goonz gang who pleaded guilty in federal court in Roanoke to racketeering charges. 'I beat people. I participated in tying them up. I participated in numerous robberies.
'I was wrong -- period.'
Ferguson, 33, and Russell Berlin Shaw, 40, both of Roanoke, said they were Goonz members. Prosecutors said the group began in 2008 and involved a dozen or so people, most from Southwest Roanoke. Ferguson and Shaw joined late last year, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors outlined five robberies carried out by the Goonz, including the December invasion of an elderly Botetourt County couple's home. A husband and wife were held at gunpoint, then left bound with phone cords as gang members hauled away a safe containing an estimated $50,000. The money was not recovered, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen said."