The penalty for conviction of any offense shall be reclassified to the next highest classification in the penalty schedule if the commission of such offense is part of a pattern of street gang activity.
An allegation that a defendant is a street gang member shall be filed as separate information at the time of, or before, arraignment. The separate information shall state those criteria, as set forth in Subdivision 22-10A-1 (2), which allegedly identify the defendant as a street gang member and shall be signed by the prosecutor.
Terms used in Sections 22-10A-1 to 22-10A-3, inclusive, mean:
(1) "Street gang," any formal or informal ongoing organization, association, or group of three or more persons who have a common name or common identifying signs, colors, or symbols and have members or associates who, individually or collectively, engage in or have engaged in a pattern of street gang activity;
(2) "Street gang member," any person who engages in a pattern of street gang activity and who meets two or more of the following criteria:
(a) Admits to gang membership;
(b) Is identified as a gang member by a documented reliable informant;
(c) Resides in or frequents a particular gang's area and adopts its style of dress, its use of hand signs, or its tattoos and associates with known gang members;
(d) Is identified as a gang member by an informant of previously untested reliability if such identification is corroborated by independent information;
(e) Has been arrested more than once in the company of identified gang members for offenses which are consistent with usual gang activity;
(f) Is identified as a gang member by physical evidence, such as photographs or other documentation; or
(g) Has been stopped in the company of known gang members four or more times; and
(3) "Pattern of street gang activity," the commission, attempted commission, or solicitation by any member or members of a street gang of two or more felony or violent misdemeanor offenses on separate occasions within a three-year period for the purpose of furthering gang activity.