Federal judge cancels release of SF gang felon found with assault rifle
An eight-time felon arrested by SFPD officers with a stolen assault weapon – and labelled “an unmitigable danger” by prosecutors – will remain in prison after a federal judge revoked a pretrial release order at the conclusion of an appeal hearing today.
When Ronnie Mitchell, 27, was arrested in October 2021 police found an AR-style rifle loaded with 58 rounds on the driver’s side floor of his Dodge Charger. A search of the property beside which the car was parked uncovered “an arsenal” of rifles, pistols, high-capacity magazines and ammunition.
Mitchell’s belated exercise of his untapped right to a detention hearing in November 2023, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim’s subsequent order that he be released on a secured bond with an ankle monitor provoked an immediate appeal by government attorneys.
“I agree with the Government and Pretrial that Mr Mitchell should remain in custody,” said U.S. District Judge Susan Illston today. “[T]here are no conditions that would adequately protect against the dangerousness of Mr Mitchell and the likelihood of flight.”
One month before Mitchell’s arrest his older brother, Steven, was shot to death in Vallejo. And last year another brother, Paris Moffett Jr, was executed in the Oakland hospital bed where he lay paralyzed, himself having been shot in an October 2022 incident in which another man was also killed.
Mitchell’s stepfather, Paris Moffett Sr. was named by police as the leader of the Western Addition-based Eddy Rock gang in a 2007 court filing in support of a civil injunction against city gangs. Moffett Sr. was released three months ago from a 37-month federal sentence for firearm possession in San Francisco.
Mitchell’s own spectacular criminal history is marked by an arrest for first degree murder, serving a 68 month sentence for assault with a deadly weapon and threatening a crime with intent to terrorize, and leading police on a 130mph car chase that ended with a crash in which a passenger was ejected.
He denies being a member of the Eddy Rock gang.
It was Mitchell’s phone call while in custody, monitored by authorities, which led them to the culprits of the East Bay freeway shooting that killed 23-month-old Jasper Wu.
In October 2021, owing to his outstanding warrants, SFPD officers were conducting surveillance on Mitchell and were tracking his phone and car. They arrested him on October 12 when he parked his Dodge Charger outside a house on 67th Avenue in Oakland.
In the vehicle, on the driver’s side floor, was an assault rifle loaded with 58 rounds of ammunition that had been stolen one year earlier in Mississippi. A search of the property uncovered “an arsenal” of rifles, pistols, high-capacity magazines and ammunition.
Initially held in state custody Mitchell was later handed over to federal authorities for prosecution on a charge of ‘being a felon in possession of a firearm’ with respect to the gun found in his car.
Mitchell has eight felonies to his name, the most notable of which is a 2016 conviction on two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and threatening a crime with intent to terrorize, for which he served a 68 month sentence.
Prosecutors also noted that he had previously been arrested for first degree murder and, in 2015, had led police on a 130mph car chase that ended with a crash in which a passenger was ejected.
In 2014 police, knowing that he had a warrantless search condition, attempted to stop Mitchell on the street only for him to run away and dispose of a loaded firearm in a nearby driveway.
Police say Mitchell is an Eddy Rock gang member. He was on parole at the time he was arrested with the loaded rifle.
On September 15 2021, a month before Mitchell’s arrest his older brother, Steven, was shot to death in the parking lot of an apartment block in Vallejo. Prosecutors say Mitchell “possessed the weapon either for protection from a similar attack, for the purpose of retaliation against his brother’s killers, or for both reasons.”
Since Mitchell’s latest arrest, another brother, Paris Moffett Jr, was killed. Two men entered the rehabilitation hospital where he lay paralyzed and one shot him multiple times with a handgun. Moffet Jr was in the facility having himself been shot in an October 2022 incident in which another man was also killed. Prosecutors say Moffet Jr was also an Eddy Rock gang member.
Mitchell’s stepfather, Paris Moffett Sr. was named by police as the leader of the Western Addition-based Eddy Rock gang in a 2007 court filing in support of a civil injunction against city gangs. Moffett Sr. was released three months ago from a 37-month federal sentence for firearm possession in San Francisco.
In November 2023 Mitchell exercised for the first time his right to have a ‘detention hearing’ – at which pretrial detainees seek to persuade a judge that they are not a flight risk and safe to release.
“He had an assault weapon loaded with 58 rounds of military grade ammunition,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Barry told the court.
“Unfortunately Mr Mitchell’s brothers were murdered – and that’s the milieu Mr Mitchell has been living in his whole life…the danger the court is faced with, that he poses, cannot be mitigated.”
“There is also the risk of flight. The pre-bail report indicates that…he served time for evading police officers, when they attempted to pull him over he fled, there was a high speed chase reaching speeds of up to 130mph. The police had to spike strip his car, there was a crash, and he still began to flee.”
“The idea here is to have Mr Mitchell released to the custody of his father,” said assistant federal public defender Karthik Raju, referring to an individual other than Paris Mofett Sr.
“Mr Mitchell went in to custody a couple of years ago. In the past two years, one brother killed this year, one brother killed last year…he got married this year in jail and hasn’t seen his daughter.”
“I’m willing to consider Mr Mitchell’s release to his father’s custody,” concluded U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim, “but I want a secured bond and an ankle monitor…he can’t come to San Francisco.”
Kim’s subsequent release order – issued one day later – prompted the government to appeal to U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, who stayed the order and scheduled today’s hearing.
Allowing the appeal and denying Mitchell pre-trial release, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston pointed to risk of flight and the dangerousness of the defendant. The judge was especially concerned about the gun found in Mitchell’s vehicle.
“I know it is ‘just a firearm case,'” she said, “but that was quite some firearm.”
It was Mitchell’s phone call while in custody, monitored by authorities, which led them to the culprits of the East Bay freeway shooting that killed 23-month-old Jasper Wu in November 2021. The Mercury News exclusively reported that Mitchell detailed the freeway gunfight on the call and provided information about one of the Eddy Rock gang members in the vehicle that was shot at by gang rivals.
Mitchell’s trial is scheduled to begin before Judge Illston on February 26 2024.
The case continues.
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