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Mar 10, 2023

Feds takedown of 6 Mile Chedda Grove gang ends. Leader gets 25 years.

The federal government wrapped up its yearslong takedown of the '6 Mile Chedda

The federal government wrapped up its yearslong takedown of the '6 Mile Chedda Grove' gang Tuesday as the 11th and final defendant was sentenced to 25 years in prison as part of a racketeering conspiracy for murdering two people, including a 13-year-old girl who got caught in the crossfire of a revenge killing.

Edwin Mills, aka "Edboy," 33, of Detroit was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith after previously pleading to his role in a violent criminal enterprise that prosecutors said terrorized neighborhoods on Detroit's east side for years.

The FBI started closing in on the 6 Mile gang in 2016, when it arrested Mills and another gang leader for their roles in the 2015 fatal shooting that killed a rival gang member with whom they were feuding, along with the girl, who was sitting next to the target. Two other children were also seriously injured in the shooting — a brother and a sister who were sitting on the hood of the car when it came under fire, then slid off the roof as the driver lost control after getting shot. Both siblings were run over by the vehicle, but survived.

This is a glimpse into the terror and bloodshed that the 6 Mile gang caused in Detroit for years, says the government, which sought to dismantle the gang by first going after its leaders, then the members.

Mills and his accomplice, 29-year-old Carlo Wilson, of Detroit, were the first ones arrested. Wilson also received a 25-year sentence in March for his role in the 2015 murders outside the Troester Market at Hayes and Troester streets.

Unbeknownst to the armed gang members, the shooting was captured by FBI pole cameras in the area.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, they were not prosecuted for the murders in state court.

"Today's sentence closes the book on a violent gang that terrorized an entire neighborhood,"U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said. "The community is safer with these men off the streets."

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Added Detroit FBI chief James Tarasca, "Guns and drugs take the lives of far too many people in our communities, and Edwin Mills — as a leader of the ‘6 Mile Chedda Grove’ gang — contributed to the devastating impact of bothon Detroit's Eastside."

According to court records, 6 Mile Chedda Grove operated within an area bordered by East McNichols Road, Kelly Road, Houston-Whittier Street and Chalmers Street. One of the main streets in the gang's territory — where many of the drug deals got made — is Cedargrove Street, from which the gang gets its name.

According to authorities, 6 Mile members and associates gained status and respect by being loyal and committing crimes, including murder, robbery and drug dealing. The members include siblings, childhood or high school friends, including past students at Denby High School. To join 6 Mile, the government said, members are "jumped in" — an initiation process that involves current members physically fighting and striking the new member.

Contact Tresa Baldas: [email protected]