Judge Juan Sánchez sentenced Kelvin Jimenez to life in federal prison, plus 30 years, in the SG1700 case.

Life plus 30 years is the sentence Judge Sánchez imposed on Jimenez. It is not a sentence for Dominique Parker, who the Inquirer reported is still facing a mandatory life term. It is not a finding that Jimenez fired the shot that killed Cpl. O'Connor. No second outlet had published Wednesday's hearing when this account was written. The facts below are the Inquirer's.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, that a leader of a Frankford drug gang whose members fatally shot Philadelphia SWAT Cpl. James O'Connor IV in 2020 was sentenced that day to life in federal prison. The Inquirer reported Kelvin Jimenez is 35, and that U.S. District Judge Juan R. Sánchez said that in addition to the life sentence he was imposing a mandatory additional term of 30 years. The Inquirer reported Jimenez was not accused of participating in O'Connor's killing or of being present for it. It reported the shooting happened inside a Frankford apartment building as SWAT officers sought to arrest another gang member on a murder warrant. It reported the U.S. Attorney's Office said Jimenez was a top decision-maker for SG1700, a group prosecutors said ravaged Frankford with drugs and violence, and that he was charged with crimes including racketeering conspiracy on the theory that he was responsible for offenses members committed, including four murders, 13 shootings, and gun and drug crimes. The Inquirer reported he went to trial last year with another accused leader, Dominique Parker, and that a jury found both guilty.

The Inquirer reported Jimenez told the court Wednesday that the jury got it wrong, that prosecutors had tied him to crimes he had nothing to do with, and that there was not enough evidence to connect him to violent crimes committed by others. "They find me guilty behind my [social] orbit," he said, as the Inquirer printed it. "They find me guilty that I actually get along with these guys." The Inquirer reported he called the prosecutors evil. Judge Sánchez disagreed. The Inquirer reported he called the shootings and drug dealing Jimenez oversaw while leading SG1700 horrendous, and said evidence showed Jimenez was involved in leading the group's wrongdoing. "It's a real serious problem when you have a gang and gang members who brazenly just go out and shoot and kill and shoot and hurt other people — just to maintain your drug operation and dominance in the community," the judge said. The life term and the added 30 years are what the Inquirer reported the judge imposed on Jimenez at the end of that hearing.

The Inquirer reported the killing that drew the most attention was in March 2020, on the 1600 block of Bridge Street. It reported O'Connor was 46, and that he and other SWAT officers had gone there to arrest Hassan Elliott for the 2019 killing of Tyrone Tyree. It reported Elliott was staying in an apartment where Jimenez was allowing the men to stay, that Elliott picked up a .22-caliber rifle and shot through a door before officers got in, and that the shot fatally struck O'Connor. It reported Elliott and Khalif Sears were arrested at the scene and charged with the murder. It reported Elliott, who fired through the wall of an apartment while trying to avoid arrest, was ordered to serve 75 years after he pleaded guilty before Judge Sánchez last year. It reported prosecutors have recommended 35 to 50 years for Sears, who pleaded guilty and has not been sentenced. It reported Parker, found guilty at the same trial of serving as a group leader, is facing a mandatory life sentence. The Inquirer reported Jimenez was the second SG1700 member sentenced in the case, and that two other members have been convicted and are still awaiting sentencing. It reported that besides O'Connor, the men were charged with killing Kaseem Rogers in 2018, Tyree in 2019, and Dontae Walker later in 2019. It reported prosecutors said two of those murders sought to target rival gang members and that Tyree's was a botched robbery. It reported federal prosecutors later adopted the case, that then-U.S. Attorney William McSwain faulted District Attorney Larry Krasner for dropping a drug case against Elliott the year before O'Connor was shot, and that Krasner defended his office. It reported McSwain's successor, Jacqueline C. Romero, announced an expanded racketeering case in 2023 against Jimenez, Elliott, Sears, and Parker, and that all have since been convicted.

Wednesday's life sentence and the mandatory 30 years added to it are the punishment the Inquirer reported Judge Sánchez imposed on Jimenez. They are not Parker's sentence. They are not the recommendation prosecutors made for Sears. The 75 years are the term the Inquirer reported Elliott already received. The Inquirer reported Jimenez was not accused of being present when O'Connor was shot. A racketeering conviction that holds a leader responsible for crimes the government said the group committed is not the same finding as a finding that he fired that shot. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.