Downstate crime ringleader sentenced to over 769 years in prison

The ringleader of a crime syndicate in Kent and Sussex Counties will spend the rest of his life behind bars. Last year, Steven Kellam was convicted of ordering two murders in 2014 and running a gang that carried out a series of armed robberies and home invasions downstate. This week he was sentenced to 2 life sentences, plus 769 years in prison for the crime spree he organized targeting drug dealers in their homes.

The robberies turned deadly when Cletis Nelson and William Hopkins of Millsboro were killled by three men who burst into their home in January 2014. While Kellam was not in the home at the time of the murders, investigators say Kellam gave the orders to kill the occupants.

Kellam maintains his innocence and is appealing his conviction.