Conviction is a first for fast-growing Portsmouth gang

PORTSMOUTH

A 19-year-old Chesapeake man was found guilty Tuesday of the May 1 gang-related robbery of an I.C. Norcom High School student.

According to authorities, Anthony D. White was the first member of a fast-growing street gang called the Oaks Mob to be convicted of criminal gang activity.

The victim, Jalonta Ingram, 18, said White was with a group of teenagers who followed him as he was leaving school, then circled him and began to hit and kick him before taking his silver jewelry and money. He said they fled when someone came to his aid. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance and he received stitches to his ear, he said.

Police Officer William Baker testified that White initially told police that he was there when Ingram was attacked but did nothing. Then he said he may have hit Ingram a couple of times but did not participate in the robbery. Eventually, he said he took money from Ingram's pockets, Baker said.

White's lawyer, William Brown, described the incident as no more than a spur-of-the-moment act of young people who saw a shiny necklace and decided to take it. He said there was no proof that the crime was committed to benefit the gang.

When questioned by police, White said he was a leader of the Murder Mob, a subset of the Oaks Mob, according to Baker.

Prosecutor Amy Miller introduced photos of White that had been posted on his and another gang member's MySpace page. They showed him flashing gang signs and wearing the bandana and beads affiliated with the Oaks Mob.

White faces up to four years and three months in prison, depending on his record, when he is sentenced Nov. 17. Two others, Rashad Melton, 15, and Christopher Atkins, 17, will be tried as adults on the same charges in October.

Detective K.L. Gavin, who heads the city's gang task force, testified that the Oaks Mob is a homegrown gang that was formed around drug distribution in the London Oaks neighborhood. About a year ago it mushroomed from about 16 members to more than a hundred in about two months. Gavin said the gang is a rival to the YNICs, another Portsmouth gang that has declined since its leader was killed.

Since then, the Oaks Mob has tried to "step up their recruiting," Gavin said. They now have members in neighborhoods from Prentis Park to Churchland, and also in Western Branch, he said.

The gang is one of 61 street gangs in the city, with slightly more than 700 members, Gavin said.

Janie Bryant, (757) 446-2453, janie.bryant@pilotonline.com