Bryant found guilty in RICO trial

After two weeks of testimony in federal court, a jury came back with a guilty verdict for Louis Antonio Bryant on Monday morning, May 22. The ringleader of the Charlottesville gang the Westside Crew, otherwise known as Project Crud, was found guilty of racketeering and one count of attempted murder. He faces life in prison. The Westside Crew sold marijuana and cocaine, specifically in the 10th and Page neighborhood, for the better part of the 1990s. All told, 28 people have reached plea deals in the case, including Bryant’s codefendants, dating back to when the case first went to trial in November. A mistrial was declared in that trial just before the jury went into deliberations, when one juror overheard another discussing a Daily Progress article about the case.—Nell Boeschenstein