Demario Devon Nance, RICO Conspiracy, NY 2024

Demario Devon Nance, 34, of Buffalo, NY, is locked up for 11½ years after being sentenced on federal RICO conspiracy charges tied to the violent LRGP street gang. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara handed down a 138-month sentence, cementing the fall of another key player in the gang’s drug and violence empire.

Nance ran dirty alongside his cousin, Dewayne Gray, pushing crack cocaine through the gang’s stronghold near the Broadway Market area. Federal prosecutors say he wasn’t just a low-level dealer—he was embedded in the operation, helping maintain control through fear, distribution, and loyalty to a crew already steeped in bloodshed.

The LRGP wasn’t just moving drugs. The gang built its power through shootings, murders, and turf enforcement—all counted as racketeering acts under the RICO charge. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas S. Duszkiewicz and Joel L. Violanti made it clear: Nance helped sustain a criminal enterprise built on violence and addiction.

Of the 138 months, 120 stem directly from the RICO conviction. The remaining 18 months come from violating supervised release from a prior federal drug conviction—stacked on consecutively, showing no leniency from the court. The message is clear: repeat offenders in violent drug networks will face maximum consequences.

The takedown was the result of a grinding, multi-agency investigation. The FBI Safe Streets Task Force, DEA, ATF, and Buffalo Police Department all converged under federal oversight. Special Agents in Charge Adam S. Cohen, James J. Hunt, Ashan M. Benedict, and Commissioner Daniel Derenda directed the operation that peeled back the gang’s operations layer by layer.

Nance joins Gray and 16 other defendants already convicted in the sweeping case—a testament to the federal crackdown on organized street gangs in Buffalo. With convictions secured and sentences piling up, authorities are signaling that the reign of LRGP’s violent drug enterprise is being dismantled from the top down.