November 24, 2019 – Detroit street legend Leroy (Gun) Buttrom, founder and boss of the notorious Pony Down gang, died recently of natural causes. The 70-year old Buttrum kept a low profile in his final years. He passed away in September. Buttrom and his brothers started Pony Down in the early 1980s on the city’s westside to compete with reigning Motor City dope gods, Young Boys, Inc. (YBI). The Buttroms called their crew Pony Down in honor of the blue-colored Pony brand athletic shoes and clothes they wore to differentiate themselves from YBI’s signature red-colored Adidas gear. The gang numbered in the hundreds and fought YBI for territory, eventually usurping YBI crime lords Milton (Butch) Jones and Raymond (Baby Ray) Peoples and their organization in terms of power and reach due to legal woes and infighting. The entire Pony Down hierarchy was indicted in 1985, the same year Baby Ray Peoples was slain, allegedly on Jones’ orders. “Gun” Buttrom went on the run and was a fugitive for 13 months prior to being caught in a routine traffic spot on I-94 heading towards Chicago. Convicted of federal narcotics trafficking, he did 18 years behind bars, walking free in the summer of 2004. His son was nailed for drug dealing in April 2018.
