Gang Members Plead Guilty To Federal Racketeering Charges

ATLANTA — Six men have pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and organized crime charges for their respective parts in the operations of the violent Nine Trey Gangster Bloods, prosecutors said.

Tyrone Clark, 40, of Marietta, 37-year-old Joseph Riley, of Atlanta, Gary Sartor, of Atlanta, Patrick Caple, 56, of Glenville, GA, 27-year-old Michael Jackson of Chester, GA, and Brandon Asberry, 32, of Atlanta, along with four other unnamed defendants were convicted of Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Organization (RICO) conspiracy charges, authorities said.

“Members of the Nine Trey Gangsters showed a shocking indifference to human life, both in carrying out planned acts of violence and in distributing drugs, including methamphetamine, throughout Georgia,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt Erskine. “While the gang offered members a sense of belonging and the opportunity to make money through illicit drug sales, it was those same members who were most often the targets of violence from the gang based solely on the whims of the gang’s leaders.”

Prosecutors say the gang, also known as NTG, was formed in New York prisons as a subset of the United Bloods Nation gang that spread throughout the east coast and southeast. In Georgia, and particularly in the Northern District of Georgia, federal officials said NTG operated as a criminal organization that engaged in murder, assault, gun possession, robbery, witness tampering, and extortion, among other crimes.

Three of the men, including two who were high up in the gang’s hierarchy, were incarcerated at Georgia prisons, and all of them were involved in planning, facilitating and executing acts of violence, as well as participating in trafficking drugs such as methamphetamines, marijuana and Xanax, prosecutors said.

Some of the criminal activity reached into the state prison system prompting a federal investigation into systemic violence in Georgia Correctional Department facilities.

“As part of our commitment of ridding our facilities of criminal activity, we maintain a robust plan for identifying and managing those participating in gang activity from behind prison walls,” said Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Timothy C. Ward. “We appreciate the support and assistance of our law enforcement partners on every level, in our efforts to see that justice is being served on those who pose a threat to the safety of the public and the safe operations of our facilities.”