A few years back, five members of the West Side Gator Boyz were arrested in west Dallas, for a string of felony drug offenses. The group’s leader, Patrick Weatherall, was sentenced back in 2010 to 30 years, without parole.
“Criminal street gangs like this one use violence and force to control communities and further their drug-trafficking activities,” U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks said at the time. “Yesterday’s enforcement action demonstrates that federal and local law enforcement are united in their efforts to shut down dangerous drug trafficking organizations operating in Dallas and rob them of profits from their illegal narcotics sales.”
What Jacks failed to mention was this tidbit, that just dropped into my inbox:
Members of the drug trafficking and criminal street gang, known as the Gator Boyz, used drug proceeds to purchase houses, including these Life Avenue properties. The Gator Boyz not only dealt drugs, but further terrorized the neighborhood by walking an alligator on a leash down the street.
Anyway, the Justice Department repossessed four of the Gator Boyz’s drug houses, and now they’re donating them to Habitat for Humanity. That group will demolish the houses and rebuild new ones. 2022 Life Avenue, in west Dallas, will be demolished tomorrow, following a quick ceremony.
