A Frankford gang leader, whose members killed a Philly police officer, was sentenced to life in prison

A leader of a violent Frankford drug gang whose members fatally shot Philadelphia SWAT Cpl. James O’Connor IV in 2020 was sentenced Wednesday to life in federal prison.

Kelvin Jimenez, 35, was not accused of participating in — or even being present for — O’Connor’s killing, which occurred inside a Frankford apartment building as SWAT officers sought to apprehend another gang member on a murder warrant.

But the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Jimenez was a top decision-maker for SG1700, a group that prosecutors said “ravaged” Frankford with drugs and violence. And because prosecutors said Jimenez was atop the gang’s hierarchy, they charged him with crimes including racketeering conspiracy, saying he was responsible for offenses his gang’s members committed, including four murders, 13 shootings, and a variety of gun and drug crimes.

Jimenez took his case to trial last year along with another accused SG1700 leader, Dominique Parker. Both were found guilty by a jury.

Jimenez said in court Wednesday that the panel got it wrong — that prosecutors, whom he called “evil,” had improperly tied him to crimes he had nothing to do with, and that there was not sufficient evidence to connect him to violent crimes committed by others.

“They find me guilty behind my [social] orbit,” he said. “They find me guilty that I actually get along with these guys.”

U.S. District Judge Juan R. Sánchez disagreed.

Sánchez said the shootings and drug dealing Jimenez oversaw while leading SG1700 were “horrendous.” The gang’s crimes often left bystanders wounded by bullets, Sánchez said, and evidence showed Jimenez was involved in leading the group’s wrongdoing.

“It’s a real serious problem when you have a gang and gang members who brazenly just go out and shoot and kill and shoot and hurt other people — just to maintain your drug operation and dominance in the community,” Sánchez said.

The judge said in addition to a life sentence, he was imposing a mandatory additional term of 30 years behind bars.

Jimenez was the second SG1700 member to be sentenced in connection with the case. Two other members have been convicted but are awaiting sentencing.

The man who shot O’Connor, Hassan Elliott — who fired his gun through the wall of an apartment while trying to avoid being arrested — was ordered to serve 75 years behind bars after he pleaded guilty before Sánchez last year.

Prosecutors have recommended that another man inside the apartment at the time, Khalif Sears, face a prison term of 35 to 50 years. He also pleaded guilty but has not yet been sentenced.

Meanwhile, Parker — also found guilty at trial of serving as a group leader — is, like Jimenez, facing a mandatory life sentence.

The crime that attracted the most attention, and that led to Jimenez’s arrest, occurred in March 2020.

O’Connor and other SWAT officers had gone to the 1600 block of Bridge Street to arrest Elliott in the 2019 killing of Tyrone Tyree. But before they could get into Elliott’s apartment — where Jimenez was allowing the men to stay — Elliott picked up a .22-caliber rifle and shot through a door, fatally striking O’Connor.

Elliott and Sears were arrested at the scene and were charged with O’Connor’s murder.

Federal prosecutors later adopted the case amid a swirl of controversy, as the U.S. attorney at the time, William McSwain, faulted District Attorney Larry Krasner for dropping a drug case against Elliott a year before O’Connor was shot. (Krasner defended his office’s actions.)

In 2023, McSwain’s successor, Jacqueline C. Romero, announced an expanded racketeering case against Jimenez, Elliott, Sears, and Parker. All have since been convicted.

In addition to O’Connor’s murder, the men were charged with killing Kaseem Rogers in 2018; Tyree in 2019; and Dontae Walker later in 2019. Two of the murders sought to target rival gang members, prosecutors said, while Tyree’s was a botched robbery.