At the age of fourteen Milton David Jones was introduced to the world of drug dealing by his brother-in-law who he referred to as a master operator. Initially Jones sold small amounts of heroin while serving as a security guard and lookout during transactions. Jones claims to have killed for the first time at the age of 15. By his own account, Butch Jones shot and killed a suspected stick up man at a dope house on Duane. In the incident Jones reportedly recognized a man who accompanied a woman who came to the house to buy some dope as the infamous *stick-up Mike.
Jones quickly deduced that Mike had come to the dope house to rob it and ultimately kill everyone there so he opened the front door and without warning shot the suspected bandit with a twelve gauge shotgun as he stood out in the yard. Following this cold hearted murder, Jones claims that he became a feared and respected member of the underworld culture. The murder caused the dope spot to be shutdown for a time but when it opened back up, it was under the control of the fifteen year old Jones. While diving head long into the heroin business, Jones began making the rounds of all of the seedy nightspots meeting old time hustlers, gamblers, pimps and peddlers. At such a tender age Jones claims to have acquired his "Ph.D from the streets." With his street reputation firmly established Jones admits to participating in paid hits, robberies and arson.
Detour On the Way To The Top
While in the process of completely terrorizing all of came in contact with the infamous Butch Jones, he made his first mistake by killing a man who he suspected of participating in the robbery of a friend of his at a local drug spot. Jones and two others were picked up and charged with murder on January 17, 1974. While sitting in jail awaiting the determination of his future, Milton suffered the loss of one of his brothers who was killed during the comission of a robbery. On the same day, his girlfriend and later wife Portia Sturdivant gave birth to his son Jamaky. Jones was sentenced to a seven year term in March of 1975 after taking a plea deal for manslaughter for his role in the killing. Jones served his time in Jackson and later Iona Reformatory before earning his release in 1978.
The Formation of Young Boys Inc,.
Within a month of his return to the streets of Detroit, Milton Jones, Mark Marshall and Raymond Peoples organized Youngs Boys Inc,.
Young Boys Inc., started off as a small insignificant band of drug peddlers operating out of Detroit's Monterey Dexter Eastside
neighborhood. Initially all shots were called by 25 year old Mark Marshall with assistance from Raymond Peoples. Control of the gang was passed onto Peoples and Milton David Jones in 1979 when Marshall fled the motor city in favor of California by way of Mississppi. Jones and Peoples had taken their marching orders from the older more experienced Marshall but came together in transforming Young Boys Inc., into a multi-million dollar organized crime syndicate. This transformation was plotted and ruthlessly carried out under the guidance of Butch Jones.
From Gangster to Racketeer
Young Boys fortunes soared when Jones turned to Seal Murray to supply his operation with heroin and cocaine smuggled into the country from various points around the globe by international smuggler and financier Reginald Davis. Murray used his connections to members of the Davis Family Gang to secure large shipments of narcotics which were then distributed to members of Young Boys Inc,. Jones began using his reputation as a killer to recruit a core of young preteen salesmen who would out of a combination of fear and respect for the older more experienced criminal were willing to demonstrate their loyalty by enforcing the edicts of their leader through an unprecidented show of brutality. Jones and the Young Boys leaders were vilified in the press for their use of underage children to push the YBI product on the streets of Detroit.
As YBI's fortunes soared, so did the murder rate amoung young black males in Detroit. Jones enforced a strict code of discipline amoung his troops calling for all dope to be turned in to a designated spot by 6 pm. If the dope was returned late or short, the offender could expect a beating at the hands of Jones or a member of his security force known as the wrecking crew. Jones relied heavily on a trusted team of lieutenants to look out for the interests of YBI while he enjoyed the fruits of their labor. Jones bought a string of homes in and around Detroit which he used to stay one step ahead of law enforcement officials and rival traffickers alike. Much like Seal Murray, Butch developed an affinity for fast cars and easy women.
The collaboration of Murray and Jones proved to be a hard combination to beat for smaller groups such as Pony Down headed by Leroy Buttrom Willis. Murray's contacts with the Davis Family kept Young Boys Inc., supplied with all of the heroin they needed in the beggining but later Jones would use his womanizing skills to forge an allance with dealers operating out of New York. By 1983 Young Boys street sales were estimated in the neighborhood of $400 million dollars annually. At the top sat Milton David Jones, a man with little formal education running a criminal empire which rivaled the biggest legitimate companies.
The Empire Starts To Crumble
As the fortune and reputation of Young Boys Inc., expanded so did the desire of federal officials to see the largest dope ring in Michigan smashed. Authorities closed in raiding several Young Boys strong holds harassing the groups street level workers and lieutenants. During one such raid, officers arrested a 19 year old member of the gang drapped in gold with an estimated value which exceeded $100,000. It was during the early stages of these raids that 17 year old Carey Vincent Goins opened fire on two undercover narcotics officers killing William Green leaving his 36 year old partner suffering from a shoulder wound. Goins was quickly apprehended and convicted on a charge of murder but mayor Coleman Young initiated a plan which eventually led to the dismantling of the Jones empire. The second phase of the attack netted authorities $2 Million dollars worth of cocaine and $800,000 in cash.
The raid was conducted on May 18th at the Jeffersonian Apartments. This move was followed by a second highly publicized raid on a home which turned out to be a stash spot for Seal Murray's cash. This deprived the operation of another $633,000 in operating capitol. One more major seizure resulted in the loss of 2,200 packets of product already packaged for distribution. The constant pressure began to take its toll on the rings members as Seal Murray became increasingly paranoid by the frequency with which he had been hit for large sums of cash and dope. Butch Jones on the other hand seemed unphased by the turn of events and continued to maintain a high profile in his usual areas. With the feds closing in on their base of operations, Young Boys made a push into other markets and soon controlled heroin trafficking in Pontiac and Flint, Michigan as well.
The success of the drug business provided plenty oppurtunity for jealousy to develope between Butch and members of the ring. Soon splinter groups began forming including one headed by Dewayne Davis, a man said to have been a friend of Butch Jones before money caused a rift between them. Known as Wonderful Wayne, Davis broke away from Young Boys and started his own crew known as H2O. In an effort to establish a profitable base of operations, Davis made the mistake of trying to muscle in on a Young Boys spot near Lawton. The spot belonged to Curtis Napier known as Kurt McGurk on the street. Napier was one of Butch Jones top lieutenants and a feared hothead with a quick trigger. When Davis showed up on Lawton with a plan to sell his own brand of heroin, Napier approached him and asked if he had gotten Jones permission to sell his own product, feeling comfortable with his position in the drug game, Davis replyed that he did not need permission to sell where he wanted and that Jones did not own everything. Napier reported back to Jones the incident that had taken place and added the statement that Davis had also said "Fuck the Guy," meaning Jones.
This provided Napier with the ammunition he needed to remove Davis with the permission of his boss whom he was totally devoted to. The next day Napier armed himself and accompanied by Maurice "Moheart" Gibbs a cousin of Jones shot Davis dead as he arrived with a team of workers. The rash of shootings and raids started Butch Jones to thinking. He thoughts centered on getting out of the game before it was to late. He had already served time for murder and many of his closest friends and associates were dead or serving long prison sentences. By his own accord Jones admitted to having $5 million in cash saved. As the law closed in and attempted to administer a death blow to his organization, Butch Jones fled Detroit along with his wife and their two children in favor of the warm sun and dry climate of Tuscon, Arizona. While authorities conducted extensive searches of several upstate Michigan towns, New York hideouts and Florida hotspots, Butch and family layed low in their new home situated on 3 acres of land. Seal Murray and more than 30 other members of Y.B.I., were picked up and charged with operating a criminal enterprise. After 3 months on the run, Butch Jones stopped running.
Off to the Pen
With things going from bad to worse, Butch secured his release through the efforts of Otis Culpepper a prominent criminal defense attorney with solid connections in the court system. With a $10,000 price on his head Milton David Jones appeared before U.S. District Judge Ralph Guy Jr., on Tuesday March 22, 1983. Wearing the blue and gray colors which had become the theme of Young Boys attire, Jones was ordered held on a 10 million dollar cash bond. After refusing to implicate any of the other members of the ring, Jones received a pre-arranged 12 year sentence for running a continuing criminal enterprise. While serving time, Butch continued to operate Young Boys Inc., through his wife and several others. During this time Butch proved that Young Boys was far from dead when several members of his self appointed wrecking crew shot and killed 26 year old Rickey Gracey after he led a team of burglars into the Jones house looking for money and dope.
Due to conflicting accounts of what transpired, it is impossible to determine who fired the fatal shots but what is known is that Gracey when found had suffered more than two dozen gunshot wounds. Jones fled Detroit and took refuge in Texas with her then 10 year old son and 6 year old daughter. In all Portia and Butch Jones along with wrecking crew members Charles Obey and Spencer Holloway were tried for the killing. Butch had the slaying charge dropped against him in July of 1992 paving the way for him to escape prison for the first time in nearly 9 years. Jones returned to the streets of Detroit which had seen several copycat organizations follow in the mold of the monster he had created years earlier. Facing a mountain of doubters as to the sincerity of his claims of being reformed and desiring to use his experiences in life to turn things around for the community he had helped to destroy. Butch Jones penned his autobiography with the help of Julius Justice and Raymond L. Canty in 1996. Butch Jones is currently envolved in a movie project which will recount the glory days of Young Boys Inc.
