Date: March 6, 2025
Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov
MINNEAPOLIS — A member of the Minneapolis Highs gang was sentenced to 168 months in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release for his role in a racketeering (RICO) conspiracy, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.
According to court documents, Deandre Poe, a.k.a. “Squizzy” or “Fat Squad" was a member of the Highs, a street gang operating on the north side of Minneapolis since approximately 2004. The Highs congregated at specific businesses and residences located at or near the West Broadway Avenue and Lyndale Avenue North intersection. Highs members proved their loyalty to the gang by “putting in work,” i.e., committing acts of violence for the benefit of the gang or offering other benefits such as introducing a source for drugs or firearms. Highs members were expected to “hunt” rival gang members: an express directive to locate and kill rivals. If they did not, Highs members were expelled from the gang and physically assaulted for failing to “put in work.”
According to court documents, Poe was part of the Highs extensive fentanyl trafficking operation involving Arizona-based suppliers. Between November 2022 and March 2023, Poe made several round-trip flights from Minneapolis to Phoenix, where he mailed at least four bulk parcels of fentanyl back to Minnesota using the U.S. Postal Service.
On Oct. 3, 2024, Poe pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in a RICO conspiracy with the Highs criminal enterprise. He was sentenced in U.S. District Court by Judge Nancy E. Brasel on March 4, 2025.
This case is the result of an investigation by the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Minneapolis Police Department, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and Minnesota Department of Corrections with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, Dakota County Sheriff’s Office, St. Paul Police Department, and numerous other law enforcement agencies also contributed to this investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Albania Concepcion, Carla J. Baumel, Rebecca E. Kline and Thomas Calhoun-Lopez for the District of Minnesota and Trial Attorney Brian W. Lynch of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section prosecuted the case.
IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.