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Utah's top federal prosecutor had a message Friday for gang members committing crime in the state: Law enforcement will find you, arrest you for your crimes and hold you accountable.
"I will use the full force of federal law against you to bring swift, sure and significant penalties," said John Huber, the U.S. Attorney for Utah. "You will be convicted in a court of law and sent off to a far-away federal prison where there is zero chance of parole and little chance for you to interact with your friends and your homies and your family members. I'm serious."
Huber's comments came during a news conference in which the federal prosecutor announced that his office was making gang crime a top priority.
Huber is following the lead of President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Trump made violent crime a cornerstone of his presidential race and in early February signed an executive order directing the Department of Justice to focus on street gangs and violent criminals.
"Street gangs are violent by design," Huber said. "These are people who wake up in the morning and think about what violent act they will commit that day, who they will victimize this week and what credit they will get for it."
Huber noted that violent crime in Utah has increased more than 13 percent between 2014 and 2015, but it is not known how much of the increase in violent crime can be attributed to gang members.
It also is not known if the increase in crime is a "blip" or a more alarming trend — but prosecutors aren't taking any chances, Huber said.
To try to lower that rate, agencies across the Wasatch Front are working together on a Utah Gang Initiative to prosecute gang members and send them to federal prisons.
Paul Haertel, who is the assistant special agent in charge for the FBI in Utah, noted that in 2015, there were 19 drive-by shootings reported in Salt Lake County. The following year, 89 were reported.
Haertel said this jump is an indication that gangs are starting to change their ways. Instead of a "jumping in" ritual — where a person is beat up by as an initiation into a gang — gang leaders are instructing potential members to commit a crime, like a drive-by shooting.
The FBI agent said gangs are also using encrypted messaging apps to communicate, and are using juveniles more frequently to commit crimes. Huber said it is nearly impossible to prosecute juveniles for these sorts of crimes in the federal court system.
And getting criminals into the federal system — and ultimately, into federal prison — is ones of the goals of the Utah Gang Initiative.
Weber County Attorney Chris Allred said Friday that some of his prosecutors have been cross-designated as federal prosecutors, so they can follow a case from charges filed in local court through the federal system. Because Utah has no federal prison, it is ideal to net a federal sentence so prisoners are sent to facilities out of state.
"That makes it far more difficult for these gang members to interact with their local gang member associates in our community," Allred said. "... It's been very effective."
State officials pointed to a half-dozen cases recently adjudicated in Utah's federal courts, where gang members pleaded guilty to drug or weapons charges and were sent to federal facilities. Huber said the arrests and the focus on gang crime are necessary to keep Utah communities safe.
"We can not be dismissive of gang violence, and say, 'Well, they are just going to beat each other up or shoot each other,' " Huber said. "We can't lose ground. We have the right to walk our streets in safety. And in particular neighborhoods, communities, homes, there is too much fear to do that right now."