Thirty-Seven Gang Members and Associates Sentenced, Six from Hancock & Pearl River Counties

For Immediate Release

Office of Public Affairs - U.S. Department of Justice

The last defendant in a sprawling prosecution of the Simon City Royals gang in Mississippi has been sentenced to prison, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday. In total, the DOJ said 37 members and associates of the gang have been convicted and sentenced on charges from racketeering to drug conspiracy to money laundering. And many of those defendants hail from South Mississippi.

The gang, which is aligned closely with the Gangster Disciples, is a violent group that worked mainly out in the Mississippi Department of Corrections but included members across the South. The group’s crimes include murder, attempted murder, assault, kidnapping, robbery, extortion, witness tampering, money laundering, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, large-scale drug trafficking and fraud, the Justice Department said.

In 2015, the DOJ said the Simon City Royals kidnapped and tortured an ex-member because they thought he violated the gang’s code of conduct. The gang also smuggles methamphetamine, marijuana, heroin and benzodiazepines into state prisons and distributes them to inmates, according to the DOJ.

In 2018, the Simon City Royals issued a “kill on sight order” for a prison inmate and demanded any member who saw the target to murder him, the DOJ said.  

 The DOJ announced the sentencing of the following defendants from Pearl River and Hancock counties who were part of this gang activity:

·       Jason Hayden, age 42, of Picayune,  5 years;

·       Chancy Bilbo, age 31, of Bay St. Louis, 20 years;

·       Dillon Heffker, age 32, of Bay St. Louis, 35 years;

·       Michael Dossett, age 42, of Carriere, 6 years and 6 months;

·      Angel Labauve, age 43, of Picayune, 9 months;  

·      Anthony Rouse, age 33, of Picayune, 10 years.