RALEIGH, N.C. – The Latest on the trial of a reputed high-ranking member of the Bloods street gang accused of orchestrating the abduction of a prosecutor's father (all times local):
12:45 p.m.
A violent leader in the Bloods street gang says he wants to represent himself in a North Carolina kidnapping trial because his lawyers don't know enough about gang operations.
Fifty-one-year-old Kelvin Melton made the comments Monday during a 10-minute exchange with the judge before the start of a trial that could put him in federal prison for life. Melton is accused of directing underlings to abduct the prosecutor who put him in prison for life in an earlier North Carolina shooting case.
The botched plan led to gang members snatching the prosecutor's father instead. Frank Janssen was saved when authorities stormed an Atlanta apartment where he was held. His captors were finalizing details to kill him and dispose of his body. Milton is accused of orchestrating the abduction from his prison cell.
The judge said Melton's lawyers will continue to defend him.
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7 a.m.
A violent criminal described as a high-ranking member of the Bloods street gang goes on trial in North Carolina after authorities say he helped orchestrate from his prison cell the abduction of a prosecutor's father.
Fifty-one-year-old Kelvin Melton was already serving a life sentence for ordering underlings to shoot a Raleigh man when the prosecutor's father was abducted two years ago. Melton's trial on kidnapping and other charges starts Monday in federal court in Raleigh.
Authorities say Melton used a smuggled cellphone to target the Wake County prosecutor who put him away for the Raleigh shooting. The botched plan led to gang members snatching the prosecutor's father instead. Frank Janssen was saved when authorities stormed an Atlanta apartment where he was held. His captors were finalizing details to kill him and dispose of his body.
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