A Memphis gang leader has admitted his role in a shootout that turned deadly on the crowded patio of a Harbor Town restaurant, one of three Young Mob gang members who pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges this week. Paul Nelson, 33, known on the street as Big Paul and Paul Walk, entered his plea admitting to armed Hobbs Act robbery, using a firearm to cause death during a robbery, and conspiring to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine. He now faces up to life in prison at sentencing.
Nelson admitted to orchestrating the May 13, 2023 robbery at Tug's Casual Grill in Harbor Town, according to the US Department of Justice. Nelson and his accomplices had targeted a rap musician affiliated with a rival Memphis artist, but the armed victim shot back, striking accomplice Rodenick Winston, who later died after being dropped off at a fire station. The confrontation played out on a restaurant patio packed with roughly 50 diners, the Justice Department said. Hoodline previously reported local charges against Nelson and co-defendant Brian Lackland over the same shooting.
Two more Young Mob members entered guilty pleas alongside Nelson. Edgar Smith, 40, who goes by Chuck P and Chucky, pleaded guilty to a RICO conspiracy charge, admitting to at least two racketeering acts involving armed robbery and fentanyl distribution. Cedric Jackson, 35, known as Ced, also pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy for his part in the gang's robbery and fentanyl distribution operations. Both Smith and Jackson face a maximum of 20 years in prison at sentencing, as reported by Action News 5.
A Gang Built on Violence and Fentanyl
Young Mob was founded in Memphis in 2007, with members identifying themselves through red and black clothing and jewelry featuring an Eight Ball or the letters YM or YMM, per the Department of Justice. Gang recruits are required to perform violent acts to join or maintain status, and prosecutors say Smith, Jackson, and other Young Mob members committed robbery, attempted robbery, and fentanyl distribution as part of the enterprise's operations.
U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said the successful federal prosecutions have significantly dismantled the Young Mob gang in Memphis, per Action News 5's report. Dunavant warned that gang members committed to criminality that terrorizes the community will face a reckoning.
Part of a Sprawling Federal Crackdown
The guilty pleas are the latest development in a broader Violent Crime Initiative that has now produced federal charges against 20 members and associates of Young Mob, according to the Department of Justice. Charges across those defendants span RICO conspiracy, murder, robbery, and fentanyl trafficking. The case connects to a pattern of public violence tied to the gang, including a May 28, 2022 ambush at a Memphis McDonald's drive-through that left one rival dead and two injured, after which gang members reportedly burned their stolen getaway car.
Other Young Mob members have already been sentenced in related cases. Larry Wilson was sentenced in June 2026 to over seven years in federal prison after admitting to a June 2024 armed robbery of three tattoo shop customers that was coordinated using wiretaps, GPS, and FaceTime — a case Hoodline covered in detail. And in a parallel prosecution targeting the gang's drug pipeline, career offender Darius Moore was sentenced in April 2026 to 210 months in federal prison for trafficking thousands of fentanyl pills pressed to mimic Oxycodone through the U.S. Postal Service.
Joint Task Force Behind the Case
The prosecutions against Young Mob were investigated jointly by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Memphis Police Department, and the Multi-Agency Gang Unit, as part of the Justice Department's Criminal Division Violent Crime Initiative in Memphis. Sentencing dates for Nelson, Smith, and Jackson have not been announced, and it remains unclear what has become of outstanding charges against co-defendant Brian Lackland in connection with the Harbor Town shooting.
