A federal grand jury indictment charged Edward Allen, known as E-Money, and Deandre Rodgers, known as Dre, as high-ranking members of the Unknown Vice Lords (UVL), a Memphis street gang, with causing a gang member's death by use of a firearm during and in relation to a racketeering murder [1]. The case proceeded to trial before a jury in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, in Memphis [1]. The prosecution was handled by Lisa M. Thelwell and Sarah J. Rasalam of the DOJ Criminal Division [1].
The government's evidence established that Allen and Rodgers killed a fellow UVL member whom the gang suspected of informing on the organization following the killing of the gang's Supreme Elite Chief [1]. On Feb. 12, 2026, the jury returned guilty verdicts against both defendants on the charge of causing death by use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, predicated on murder in aid of racketeering [1]. The case formed part of the Department of Justice's Violent Crime Initiative targeting gang violence in Memphis [1].
Both Allen and Rodgers were subsequently sentenced to 50 years in federal prison each, with sentencing occurring on May 13, 2026 [1]. The convictions on the firearm-predicated murder charge carry mandatory sentencing consequences under federal law, leaving the court with limited discretion in imposing the term. Allen and Rodgers were identified by prosecutors as the final two defendants to be tried in connection with this UVL prosecution, suggesting earlier co-defendants had already been resolved by plea or verdict [1].
No post-trial motions or notice of appeal appear in the available sources at the time of publication. Given the mandatory nature of the sentence and the jury's findings on the racketeering predicate, any appeal would likely center on the sufficiency of evidence connecting the defendants to the enterprise and the constitutional adequacy of jury instructions on the racketeering elements.