On August 3, 2017, a federal grand jury in San Francisco returned a superseding indictment charging Marcus Etienne, a.k.a. Hitler, Elizabeth Gobert, Craig Marshall, and Mario Robinson, with racketeering, murder, and conspiracy, announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett.  The indictment was unsealed today.  

The charges stemmed from the defendants’ running of a multi-state marijuana trafficking organization and the murder of Trince Thibodeaux on March 22, 2016, at 90th Avenue and International Boulevard in Oakland, California.  

The superseding indictment alleges that Etienne, of Opelousas, Louisiana, ran an enterprise of more than five members who conducted a continuing and extensive narcotics conspiracy and criminal organization that distributed marijuana from California to Louisiana and Texas.  In connection with that enterprise and conspiracy, Etienne, Marshall, of Houston, Texas, and Robinson, of Oakland, California, acted in concert to murder Thibodeaux on March 22, 2016, in Oakland.  A grand jury had previously charged Etienne and Gobert, Etienne’s wife, also of Opelousas, with conspiracy to distribute marijuana on February 16, 2017.  Etienne was detained by the Court and Gobert was released on bail.  The Superseding Indictment unsealed today charges Etienne and Gobert with conspiring to murder defendant Robinson during May of 2017, while Gobert was on release pending further proceedings on the first indictment.

The defendants are charged in the superseding indictment as follows:

Etienne:

• 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B) - Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Marijuana;
• 21 U.S.C. § 848(e) - Murder in Connection with Continuing Criminal Enterprise;
• 18 U.S.C. § 924(j) - Use of Firearm to Commit Murder;
• 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) - Racketeering Conspiracy;
• 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(1) - VICAR Murder; and
• 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(5) - VICAR Conspiracy to Murder

 
Gobert:

• 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(l)(B) - Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Marijuana;
• 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) - Racketeering Conspiracy; and
• 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(5) - VICAR Conspiracy to Murder

 
Marshall: 

• 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(l)(B) - Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Marijuana;
• 21 U.S.C. § 848(e) - Murder in Connection with Continuing Criminal Enterprise;
• 18 U.S.C. § 924(j) - Use of Firearm to Commit Murder;
• 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) - Racketeering Conspiracy; and
• 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(1) - VICAR Murder

 
Robinson:

• 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841 (a)(1) and (b)(1)(B) - Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Marijuana;
• 21 U.5.C. § 848(e) - Murder in Connection with Continuing Criminal Enterprise;
• 18 U.S.C. § 924(j) - Use of Firearm to Commit Murder;
• 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) - Racketeering Conspiracy; and
• 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(1) - VICAR Murder

 
Etienne remains in custody in Northern California based on the February 16, 2017, indictment.  Robinson was arrested in Louisiana on August 4, 2017, and appeared on August 7, in federal court in the Western District of Louisiana.  Marshall was arrested on August 7, 2017, in Houston, Texas, and appeared in federal court in the Southern District of Texas today.  Gobert was re-arrested on Sunday August 6, and made her initial appearance on August 7, in federal court in the Western District of Louisianan.  Robinson, Marshall, and Gobert are expected to be required to appear in the Northern District of California upon transfer from their current locations.  The case is assigned to the Honorable William Alsup, United States District Judge, for the Northern District of California.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.  If convicted, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.  

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William Frentzen, paralegal specialist Jessica Meegan, legal assistant Bridget Kilkenny, all of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.  The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s San Francisco, New Orleans, and Houston Divisions, and the Oakland Police Department, with assistance from the St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, Sheriff’s Office, and the Opelousas, Louisiana Police Department.