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attempted murder, murder and witness retaliation.
• "When you have a criminal organization, witnesses become a problem," Winter said. "To make money, the reputation of the Native Mob has to be intact, and when the reputation is threatened, it has to be protected."
• According to the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment, the Native Mob is one of the largest and most violent American Indian gangs in the U.S., and is most active in Minnesota and Wisconsin, but also operates in Michigan, North Dakota and South Dakota. It is made up of mostly American Indian men and boys, and started in Minneapolis in the 1990s as members fought for turf to deal drugs. The gang also is active in prison.
• During his closing argument, Goetz said the entire case was a "monumental" example of over-reaching. Goetz conceded that the Native Mob exists, and that McArthur is a member. But he said just because crimes are committed by individual gang members, whom he said have impulse-control problems, it doesn't mean those crimes have anything to do with McArthur.
• Goetz told jurors the defendants come from poverty, a lack of family structure, and lives fraught with violence, and drug and alcohol abuse. He said the Native Mob was formed to protect members, and McArthur brought structure to stop members from killing each other.
• John Brink, Cree's attorney, said his client was innocent and the government didn't prove Cree was a gang member. He said the case was "the most chickenfeed RICO prosecution that's ever been brought," referencing the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a federal law designed to target organized crime.
• Morris' attorney, Thomas Shiah, said his client wasn't a Native Mob member and therefore couldn't be part of the alleged racketeering conspiracy. He said Morris acted on his own when he threw scalding water in one man's face and shot at another man, who was with his 5-year-old daughter at the time.
• Winter, the prosecutor, said Morris carried out the shooting because "he needed a jewel to put in his crown."
• Shiah alleged Native Mob insiders who testified at trial knew "zip, zero" about Morris, and that Morris did not deal drugs, have gang tattoos, or attend gang council meetings. He also alleged the trial was the government's "attempt to eradicate and eliminate a small segment of the Native American population."
• And all three defense attorneys said the government's witnesses included known criminals, who lied to get a better deal.
• Winter said the government makes no apologies for enforcing RICO laws, and any allusion to racism by the defense is merely an attempt to distract jurors. He also

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