No Criminal Charges For Metro Gang Strike Force

MINNEAPOLIS - The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office will not be charging any individuals involved in the Minnesota Gang Strike Force.

For more than two years, federal, state and independent investigators have been looking into the activities of the now defunct Strike Force, after allegations members of the Strike Force were seizing cars, cash, and property of suspected gang members.

There were three main reasons no charges were filed against former Strike Force members: lack of cooperation, the statute of limitations and sloppy record keeping.

Of the 73 strike force members interviewed, 22 would not cooperate with investigators, several said they had nothing to offer and six said they wouldn’t cooperate under the advice of their attorneys.

For many of the alleged crimes, the three-year statute of limitations had expired. While investigating the crimes, prosecutors ran into sloppy record keeping, which made it difficult to follow the trail.

Last week, alleged victims of the Strike Force who had their property seized settled out of court for $3 million .

The Department of Justice had previously handed the investigation over to Hennepin County. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman scheduled a press conference at 3 p.m. to detail why there is not enough evidence to file charges.

Freeman says despite all the smoke surrounding the gang strike force, he never found the fire.
His frustration was clear.

’We don't have evidence people put money in their pocket and walked out,’ said Freeman. ’we don't have it.’

Freeman says there's no paper trail.

’This record keeping is so bad. It's stunning, I don't think it was deliberately done to be bad, it was just lousy.’

To read the full report, click here .