"A racketeering trial involving three members of a Native American gang began Monday in federal court.

The three men are members of the Native Mob, an organization the FBI describes as one of the largest and most violent American Indian gangs in the country.

Prosecutors say Wakinyon Wakan McArthur, 34, the head or the "chief" of the gang and two so-called soldiers, Anthony Francis Cree, 26, and William Earl Morris, 25, committed various crimes in order to support a well-organized enterprise. Twenty-two other gang members named in the superseding indictment have agreed to plea deals.

Federal prosecutors said gang members shared guns used to assault and kill rivals or informants. They said gang members also used money raised from selling illegal drugs to help fund the gang's activities. "

Get the Story:
Trial begins of 3 Native Mob gang members (Minnesota Public Radio 1/28)

Also Today:
Native Mob trial opens with question: Criminal mobsters or just 'feral kids'? (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 1/29)