Corey Lamont Lanier, a 34-year-old Nashville resident and alleged leader of the 98 Mafia Crips street gang, has been sentenced to 946 months (78 years and 10 months) in federal prison for his role in planning and carrying out three armed home invasions in Nashville in 2009.
Lanier was found guilty in December 2012 by a federal jury on three counts of conspiring to commit robberies affecting interstate commerce and three counts of brandishing a firearm during these crimes.
According to evidence presented at trial, Lanier was the highest-ranking member of the 98 Mafia Crips street gang and organized and participated in three armed home invasions that targeted locations or individuals suspected of being involved in narcotics trafficking.
During each home invasion, a group of three to four armed assailants burst into a home and held those present at gunpoint while demanding drugs and drug proceeds. In two of these robberies, young children were present when armed assailants kicked down the door, burst into the home, and threatened to kill the residents inside.
“This defendant carried out violent armed home invasions, targeting drug dealers with impunity,” said Acting U.S. Attorney David Rivera. “His crimes endangered others and are the type of crimes that can lead to completely innocent people being killed. This sentence ends the violence.”
Lanier was arrested in 2009 after Metropolitan Nashville Police Officers, including the SWAT Team, responded to the third home invasion and arrested the assailants, who had conspired with Lanier to commit the robbery. Multiple firearms used in the home invasions were recovered.
At sentencing, Chief U.S. District Judge William Haynes found that Lanier used electronic media to “malign, harass, and intimidate government witnesses,” and that Lanier’s actions posed a “particularly serious threat to these victims and witnesses.” The court also found Lanier to be a career offender, with prior felony convictions, including a prior robbery conviction.
Based on Lanier’s continuing harassment and intimidation of victims and witnesses, and Chief Judge Haynes’ finding that Lanier committed “particularly egregious violent offenses which affected the victims in a horrifically emotional way,” the judge denied Lanier’s request for leniency and imposed the maximum sentence within the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
The investigation was conducted by the ATF and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
Key Facts
- State: Tennessee
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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