BY LEON B. CREWS
Sentinel Staff Writer

You will never hear Yvonne Hodges say her sons, Vanord Rutherford and Oliver Hodges, or her nephew, Milton Smith are innocent.

Ms. Elizabeth Thompson said the same thing about her son, Dannon Wilson.

All three young men, and seven others, are being tried in court under the RICO statute as alleged gang members.

Ms. Hodges said in her opinion, her son is being unjustly targeted by detectives.

“How can they say my son is the leader of a gang? They have no proof, and he has never done anything in his life that made him part of a gang. I don’t know where they get their information from or how they draw these conclusions.

“The public needs to know how the system is treating our young Black men. It’s unjust and they’re getting away with it without any justification.”

Rutherford, Hodges, Smith and seven others were in court Friday for a bond reduction hearing. Ms. Hodges said the bonds were reduced, but are still too high.

[private]“My son’s bond was a million dollars. They reduced it to $100,000. That’s still ridiculous.”

Ms. Hodges and Ms. Thompson were both asked to leave the courtroom Friday after they spoke out in support of their family members.

Ms. Thompson said her son is being railroaded, plain and simple.

“They are trying to charge him with a murder that occurred in 2007 without any proof. I read the arrest report, and it has a lot of false information in it.

“He was in prison when a lot of these things were going on. They just won’t listen to any of us trying to speak on behalf of our children, and I don’t think it’s right they do whatever they want to do to our children without fear of anyone stopping them.”

Ms. Hodges has hired Attorney William Knight to represent her sons.

According to the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office, the case is being tried by state prosecutors.[/private]