Kelvin Melton Gets Life for Kidnapping Plot

Kelvin Melton, a 51-year-old inmate known as Dizzy and Old Man, has been handed a life sentence plus 84 months for orchestrating the violent 2014 kidnapping of Frank Janssen from his Wake Forest, North Carolina home. The sentence, delivered by Chief U.S. District Judge James C. Dever, III, marks the end of a federal prosecution that exposed a chilling conspiracy directed from behind prison walls.

Melton, a member of the Eight Trey Bloods, was convicted on June 21, 2016, after a jury trial that laid bare his role in Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping, Attempted Kidnapping and Aiding and Abetting, Kidnapping and Aiding and Abetting, and Using, Carrying, and Brandishing a Firearm During a Crime of Violence. While serving a life sentence at North Carolina’s Polk Correctional Institution in Butner, Melton used an illegally possessed cell phone to direct co-conspirators in the plot.

On April 5, 2014, Frank Janssen was snatched from his home and held captive. Melton didn’t just order the abduction—he detailed the murder, body disposal, and crime scene cleanup in explicit instructions sent via phone. The threats were directed at Janssen’s wife, escalating fear and torment as law enforcement scrambled to locate the victim.

The rescue came just in time. At 11:55 p.m. on April 9, 2014, the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team stormed a residence in Southeast Atlanta, freeing Janssen from near-certain death. The operation was the result of a massive, coordinated effort spanning multiple jurisdictions and agencies across two states.

U.S. Attorney John Stuart Bruce declared the case closed: “The federal prosecution of Kelvin Melton is now complete, and justice has been served.” He credited the relentless work of prosecutors, FBI agents, and dozens of officers from local and state agencies who pieced together the plot and executed the rescue.

Investigative agencies involved include the FBI Charlotte and Atlanta divisions, Wake Forest Police, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Durham County Sheriff’s Office, Raleigh and Durham Police Departments, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, Garner Police, North Carolina Highway Patrol, RDU Police, City County Bureau of Investigation, Cobb County Police, Alpharetta Police, Atlanta Police, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The Eastern District of North Carolina U.S. Attorney’s Office handled the prosecution.