L.A. Gang Women Admit Roles in Indiana Robbery

Three female members of a Los Angeles gang suspected of helping four men rob an Indianapolis jewelry store have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a failed holdup attempt near Cincinnati.

The women entered their pleas in U.S. District Court at Covington, Ky., on Tuesday. They agreed to help authorities in prosecuting four men who are members of their gang, which was not named, officials said.

“They’ve agreed to cooperate in a written plea agreement,” said James Zerhusen, assistant U.S. attorney at Covington.

Although he would not divulge details, Zerhusen said the men “were here to do a robbery of a jewelry store. They conspired and attempted to do it.”

One of the women, Angel Miller, 26, told Marion County authorities she would cooperate with them about the Shane Co. holdup June 16 in Indianapolis in exchange for lenient treatment. She has not yet been charged in that holdup.

Miller, Cheryl Haynes, 18, and Carrie Brooks, 19, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to use credit cards. They used the cards to buy plane tickets from Los Angeles on Aug. 25. They were arrested at the Greater Cincinnati International Airport, federal authorities said.

Anthony Rogers, 19, remains in custody and is charged in the Shane Co. holdup. Suspected of the Indianapolis robbery but held on a variety of charges are Terry Lee, 20; Christopher Ransom, 19, and Kevin Broussard-Barrs, 21.

The men had been detained at the airport and were released, but were arrested several hours later as they stood outside a Covington jewelry store.

The FBI in 1985 investigated a well-organized ring of jewelry store robbers who traveled from their homes in Southwest Los Angeles to pull a series of holdups across the nation. Four members of the group were taken into custody and prosecuted after a holdup of the jewelry section of the Neiman-Marcus store in Washington.

While police at the time did not identify the suspects as street gang members, many of the participants were believed to be gang members. The ring investigated by the FBI and several other Los Angeles-based rings were blamed for as many as 60 holdups in Southern California and in other Western states.