The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the life sentence of a longtime Salt Lake-area gang leader, who claimed prosecutors had insufficient evidence to convict him.
In the ruling issued from Denver Wednesday evening, the appellate court found that there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction of Tyrese Sharod Smith, who was charged under the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and convicted by a jury in 2003.
The justices also rejected Smith's claim that the district court erred in instructing the jury on the RICO conspiracy charge.
Smith and several other members of the King Mafia Disciples gang were charged under RICO by federal prosecutors who wanted to use the act, directed at organized crime, to go after gang leaders.
According to court documents, Smith, along with five others, formed KMD while in juvenile detention at the Decker Lake Youth Detention Center in the early 1990s. Smith established the rules of gang membership. Authorities reported the gang had been held responsible for various crimes, including drive-by shootings and control over sale of marijuana within the Utah State Prison.
Smith is also serving a life sentence in state court for ordering the murder of a rival gang member from his cell at the Utah State Prison. Gang members ended up killing 19-year-old Joey Miera, who was not associated with a gang.