Seven Mile Bloods gang leader Billy Arnold guilty on all counts in murder retrial

Jurors deliberated for approximately 6 1/2 hours following a six-week trial in front of Chief U.S. District Judge Sean Cox in Detroit before returning guilty verdicts on 22 charges that included two murder counts that carry mandatory terms of life in federal prison.

Arnold, 37, was accused of killing two men and trying to kill eight others while helping lead a violent street gang that from 2008-15 fueled the nation's opioid crisis by distributing OxyContin pain pills and other drugs.

The convictions mark the culmination of a prolonged federal attack on the Seven Mile Bloods and a high-profile attempt to stem violent crime in Detroit. The government's case was highlighted in "Death by Instagram," a serial narrative in The News in 2018 that described how federal prosecutors locally had used racketeering laws to secure almost 100 convictions of violent gangsters, bikers, methamphetamine dealers and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.