Logan Smith is an assignment desk editor at CBS Colorado in Denver with more than 30 years of journalism experience in digital, television and print media.
Two men who led criminal organizations responsible for two murders and dozens of shootings - including several drive-by shooting which police say injured innocent people - were recently sentenced to prison time.
The two men were the last of two dozen members of the Few But Plenty and Too Damn Smooth crews caught and prosecuted. Both men commanded "brutal criminal organization(s) that terrorized neighborhoods" on Denver's west side during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Denver District Attorney John Walsh stated in separate press releases.
Phillip Baca, Sr., the 44-year-old purported leader of the Few But Plenty (FBP) gang, was sentenced to 33 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections on Friday. Baca was originally charged with 136 criminal counts. He pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit murder and one count of violating the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, and prosecutors dropped the remaining 134 charges.
FBP, between January 2020 and March 2022, committed at least 14 shootings, mostly drive-by shootings that targeted the gang's rivals in west Denver, according to investigators. Forty-seven people were injured in those shootings.
Twenty-two-year-old Angel "Taz" Espinoza, the alleged leader of Too Damn Smooth (2D$), was sentenced in May to 95 years. He originally faced 217 criminal counts. All but four were eventually dropped - two counts of second-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, and one count of violating the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act (COCCA).
From June 2019 into March 2023, 2D$ committed at least 18 shootings, according to investigators. Most of those, like FBP's, were actions against rival gang members. And, like FBP's, innocent people were caught up in the violence. The indictment counted nearly 200 people who were not gang members but who were caught in the crossfire or targeted directly after being misidentified by 2D$ shooters.
Violence between the two gangs escalated when Baca's brother, Paul Baca Sr., was shot and killed in Denver in 2021. Investigators claim 2D$ members were responsible. The dead man's son - the gang leader's nephew - was among those FBP crew members put behind bars. He received 34 years for murder and organized crime.
Court documents show 2D$ also killed another rival gang member in 2019.
The two gangs formed out of members from other gangs, according to both group's indictment. That is not uncommon. A commander for the Regional Anti-Violence Enforcement Network (RAVEN) Task Force told CBS Colorado that criminal gangs form easily - and don't completely break up.
"Violent gangs don't simply disappear -- but each successful prosecution disrupts their ability to operate. The RAVEN Task Force tracks, targets, and adapts to these evolving threats wherever and however they emerge," stated Lt. DJ Tisdale. "These cases are not just wins on paper -- they have real impact. Dismantling violent criminal networks and holding those involved accountable has an immediate effect on reducing violence in the communities we serve."