In a recent turn of events, Cortez Blake and Nasir Lewis, both from Detroit, have been convicted on federal kidnapping charges. According to a report from the Detroit Free Press, the two were part of a larger group who mistakenly believed their victim had been involved in a carjacking. This mistake led to a heinous act of what U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison characterized as "street justice."
The jury, after an eight-day trial overseen by United States District Judge Laurie J. Michelson, found Blake and Lewis guilty of the severe charge of kidnapping, while they were acquitted of the associated conspiracy charge. Special Agent in Charge James M. Deir from the ATF described them as representing the "worst of the worst" offenders calling Detroit home, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. These men, Deir added, put their gang allegiance above everything else, "including their humanity."
Alongside Blake and Lewis, there was a total of seven people charged in this case, with five convictions now secured. Maijah Greene, Shatonnia Kimbrough, and Armond Williams have all pleaded guilty to their respective roles in the conspiracy and kidnapping. According to court records, they now await their sentences. The entire ordeal began with an illegal abduction from Sinai-Grace Hospital, leading to a brutal series of beatings in an empty lot and subsequently in Blake's home.
The kidnapping was reportedly in retaliation for a carjacking that targeted Blake, with the group seeking to exact their brand of justice by assaulting the victim to gather information. This cycle of violence, where one crime begets another, is precisely what U.S. Attorney Ison and law enforcement aim to disrupt. "So let me say clearly, if you are victimized, let us do our job and settle it in the courtroom. Because if you retaliate, these verdicts should make clear that we will use every tool we have to seek justice," Ison said, as per the U.S. Department of Justice. A third defendant, Karamoh Turner, was acquitted of all kidnapping charges but faces unrelated charges in a different legal matter.
