supermax.JPG

Antonio Peterson, the leader of the Heartless Felons, is expected to be released from prison in November. It will be his first extended trip beyond prison confinement in years, and authorities are expected to monitor his movements based on his criminal past and his behavior in prison and the juvenile detention system.

(The Associated Press)

Antonio Peterson

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Antonio Peterson is scheduled to walk out of prison in two months, his first extended trip beyond the razor-wire fence of confinement in years.

Peterson, 31, is the founding leader of the Heartless Felons, one of the state's fastest growing and most violent prison gangs. It has sought to control the state's prisons and juvenile system, and many of its members have returned to Cleveland streets, where they have raped, robbed and killed for years.

Peterson's return will be different than others. As authorities struggle to find answers to the perplexing issue of gang recidivism, Peterson's trip home will be closely watched, based on his violent past, his leadership position in the Heartless Felons and his high risk of committing another offense.

His past tells his story: He has failed to conform in his time behind bars, from juvenile detention to adult prison.

Guards wrote him up for various violations involving the gang, accusing him of being a key leader and inciting trouble, prison records show. His behavior and gang activity became so bad that state prison officials sent him to the Ohio State Penitentiary, the state's super max prison in Youngstown.

"Gang membership intensifies in prison,'' said John Hagedorn, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Illinois-Chicago who has studied prison gangs extensively. "They are much more structured inside prisons. (Convicts who are released) bring that prison mentality back to the streets with them. That's what they know. They'll use those lessons to control the streets.''

In about 2000, Peterson served a sentence at a state youth facility in Marion for felonious assault. Prosecutors said in court documents that Peterson had an extensive juvenile record of delinquencies, and authorities struggled to handle him.



While in Marion, Peterson realized that Cleveland youths from different gangs needed to bond to become stronger so they could fend off youth gangs from across the state.

Peterson reached out to Donte "Iceberg Ferg" Ferguson, also of Cleveland. Peterson, a member of the Young Felons, joined with Ferguson, a member of the Land of the Heartless, to form the new gang, according to interviews and courtroom testimony. Ferguson is serving three years on federal gun charges.



Peterson, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated robbery and possessing a gun while a convicted felon Nov. 8, 2007. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. The charges stemmed from a violent carjacking.