Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
HAMMOND- Marvie Gardner “Widowmaker,” age 54, of Jeffersonville, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Philip P. Simon after pleading guilty to a racketeering conspiracy, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.
Gardner was sentenced to 132 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release.
According to the Second Superseding Indictment, the Sin City Deciples, originally formed in 1967 in Gary, Indiana, is an outlaw motorcycle organization in which its members and associates engaged in acts of violence, extortion, and narcotics distribution in the Northern District of Indiana and elsewhere.
Gardner served as a National Vice-President of the entire club and was involved in the conspiracy to commit acts of racketeering activity between 2017-2020. As National Vice-President, Gardner was 3rd in command behind the founder of the club, and the National President.
This case was investigated by: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the East Chicago Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Gary Police Department, the Griffith Police Department, the Hammond Police Department, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area officers and agents, the Merrillville Police Department, the Munster Police Department, and the Schererville Police Department. Also providing assistance were the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of Arkansas, the Northern District of Illinois, the Southern District of Indiana, the Western District of Kentucky, and the Western District of Pennsylvania.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David J. Nozick and Michael J. Toth.
This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
This case was also part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.