Milwaukee Crime Organization

Besides drug dealing, Hayes was involved in high-stakes gambling and dog fighting - same as Lock, according to the affidavit.

... but living off proceeds he won at Potawatomi Bingo and Casino, the affidavit said. ... Lock paid police officers to help in his criminal enterprise, ...


Are four more victims in Lock case buried under concrete?
By John Diedrich of the Journal Sentinel

Investigators are hunting for four bodies they believe are buried - likely under concrete - somewhere in Milwaukee, additional victims of crime boss Michael Lock and his criminal organization, according to a newly unsealed search warrant.

The warrant also reveals law enforcement is investigating a suspected criminal confidant of Lock who belonged to Lock's ruthless and sophisticated enterprise, known as the "Body Snatchers."

Over a decade, Lock's organization sold drugs, kidnapped, tortured and killed other dealers, prostituted women across the Midwest and ran a mortgage fraud scheme. Lock expanded his illicit operations, as he outsmarted law enforcement and twisted the criminal justice system to his advantage, a Journal Sentinel investigation found.

Lock's enterprise was dismantled by an unorthodox, secretive investigation that teamed Milwaukee police with county, state and federal investigators. Lock was convicted in three trials and is serving a life sentence. He is appealing.

Investigators now are focusing on Calvin Hayes, who lived at one of Lock's properties in the 4900 block of W. Fiebrantz Ave., where the bodies of executed drug dealers Eugene "Mickey" Chaney and Felipe "Mondo" Melendez-Rivas were discovered under concrete slabs in 2005, according to the warrant.

Since that time, investigators have searched at least six sites across the city, digging for more bodies without success, according to testimony in Lock's case.

One of the yards dug up was at a home in the 5300 block N. 65th St., where Hayes also once lived. No bodies were found there, according to the warrant.

The digging may not be done, according to the warrant, signed by Milwaukee police officer Dean Newport, one of the lead investigators on the Lock task force.

"At the conclusion of the investigation and as it stands today, law enforcement believes that approximately four more human corpses are buried in addresses owned or controlled by this Organization," according to the warrant's affidavit. No details are provided in the affidavit on the victims' identities.

Hayes, 33, was indicted in 2006 on drug charges that do not appear related to Lock and the Body Snatchers. Hayes was sentenced to four years in prison, got out last year and began drug dealing again, according to the affidavit.

Hayes is free but faces a federal revocation hearing in December, according to court records.

In early 2010, Hayes told his federal probation agent he was not working but living off proceeds he won at Potawatomi Bingo and Casino, the affidavit said. He said he was living with his mother.

Newport, who is now assigned to a task force with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, wrote that investigators could find no evidence of his casino winnings and learned he was not living with his mother.

Unnamed informants cited in the affidavit said Hayes was back to dealing large amounts of cocaine. They also said Hayes rented cars under different people's names and changed vehicles every two weeks to avoid being tracked by law enforcement. Investigators confirmed the car rentals.

Besides drug dealing, Hayes was involved in high-stakes gambling and dog fighting - same as Lock, according to the affidavit.

Hayes lived in Franklin in early 2010 and later moved to Brookfield, where a search was performed this summer. Law enforcement seized cash, documents and a cellphone. There was no indication law enforcement officials suspected bodies were buried at these suburban locations.

Hayes' attorney, Rodney Cubbie, who also represented Lock at one time, said Monday he had no information on the connections between Lock and Hayes alleged in the affidavit.

Hayes, known as "Rich Buck," has a long criminal history, including drug dealing, armed robbery and gun crimes, reaching back to age 15. Hayes and Lock had a close drug relationship and were friends, "doing everything together," according to the affidavit.

Hayes lived at the Lock-owned house on Fiebrantz in 2003 and 2004, after the organization killed and buried the two men in the backyard, the affidavit says.

The murders followed what investigators called a "predatory grooming" style used by the Body Snatchers: Lock would begin by developing a drug-buying relationship with a targeted dealer, increasing his purchases. Meanwhile, other members of his organization would do surveillance on the target.

Lock would use his flock of prostitutes, which included his future wife, to entertain the targeted dealer, dulling his sense of suspicion. Once Lock felt like the deals were large enough, he directed the organization to kidnap the dealer. They tortured victims with hot chicken grease, butane torches and dogs to extract more cash and drugs. They also threatened to hurt the dealer's family. At least twice, they killed the dealer and dumped the bodies in pre-dug holes.

Lock paid police officers to help in his criminal enterprise, according to a member of the crew. Two Milwaukee officers were indicted in federal court last year on charges of helping drug dealers, but prosecutors have made no connection between those officers and Lock's organization.

Investigators also suspected that Lock used his mother's home and day care center, Pretty's, as a stash house. A gun was found buried in a planter at the center. The state shut down the center this year.

Lock's wife, Shalanda Lock, also ran a day care center but was shut down earlier.

Shalanda Lock, herself convicted of prostitution, agreed to testify against her husband but changed her version of events once on the witness stand.

A prosecutor in the Milwaukee County district attorney's office considered charges against both Shalanda and Thelmer Lock, Michael Lock's mother, but none has been filed.

Cary Spivak of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.