Two TTP Bloods Members Sentenced to Federal Prison for Racketeering Activities

Both Defendants Found at Sentencing to Have Committed a Murder as Part of their TTP Activities

BALTIMORE, MD—U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced Anthony Fleming, a/k/a “Mo Easy,” age 23, of Baltimore to life in prison and sentenced Tavon Mouzone, a/k/a “Batman” and “Bloody Batman,” age 24, of Baltimore County, Maryland today to 20 years in prison to be served concurrently to the life sentence he is currently serving in the state, for participating in a racketeering conspiracy through the Tree Top Piru Bloods (TTP Bloods), which engaged in narcotics trafficking and robbery. The defendants were convicted at trial on April 15, 2010. Fleming was also convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine. Judge Quarles also found that each defendant committed a murder in relation to their TTP activities.

The sentences were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Baltimore City State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy; Acting Special Agent in Charge Joseph Reihl of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Ava Cooper-Davis of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III; Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; Wicomico County State’s Attorney Davis Ruark; Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis; the Washington County Narcotics Task Force led by Washington County Sheriff Douglas Mullendore; Anne Arundel County Police Chief James Teare, Sr.; Acting Salisbury Police Chief Ivan E. Barkley; and Hagerstown Police Chief Arthur Smith.

“Today’s lengthy sentences of two TTP Bloods members exemplify that by targeting criminal gangs and not just individual criminals, law enforcement agents and prosecutors are making a dramatic contribution to public safety,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “Together we have pursued similar racketeering cases against other gangs, including MS-13 and the Latin Kings.”

TTP Bloods, a violent gang, originated from a street gang known as “the Bloods” that was formed in Los Angeles, California in the early 1970s. The Bloods broke into individual “sets,” including a subset known as Tree Top Pirus (TTP). TTP spread throughout the country, including Maryland. TTP in Maryland has its roots in a local gang which began in the Washington County Detention Center in Hagerstown, Maryland in about 1999. The gang was formed for mutual protection in response to the aggression of other inmates from Baltimore and spread throughout Maryland mostly by recruiting from inside Maryland prisons.

According to trial testimony, from 2005 to February 2008, Mouzon and Fleming were members of TTP. Evidence was introduced that Mouzone and Fleming regularly met with other TTP gang members to discuss, among other things, past acts of violence and other crimes committed by gang members against rival gang members and others; to notify one another about gang members who were arrested or incarcerated; to discuss the disciplining of TTP gang members; to discuss police interactions with gang members; to share with one another the identities of individuals who may be cooperating with law enforcement and propose actions to be taken against those individuals; to plan and agree upon the commission of future crimes, including robberies, drug trafficking, and assaults, and the means to cover up these crimes; and to reinforce gang rules. The jury also heard testimony concerning the December 17, 2006 murder of a Baltimore County resident. Members of TTP, including Mouzone, agreed to rob that victim, who was shot to death by Mouzone’s accomplices during the crime. Additionally, the Court found that Anthony Fleming participated in the November 17, 2006 murder of a Baltimore City resident in retaliation for that victim’s testimony in a criminal case involving another TTP member.

According to trial testimony, as part of his gang activities Fleming also participated in a drug conspiracy and on April 24, 2007, distributed 50 grams or more of crack cocaine.

A third defendant, Michelle Hebron, a/k/a “Michelle Hell” and “BG,” age 25, of Hagerstown, pleaded guilty to the racketeering conspiracy on the second day of trial and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. According to Hebron’s plea agreement, she was one of the leaders of the Tree Top Pirettes. Hebron also admitted committing the murder of a person she believed to be a rival gang member. Law enforcement recovered a poem that Hebron had written about the murder during a search of her apartment on October 7, 2007.

This case is the result of a long-term joint investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Baltimore City Police Department, the Baltimore County Police Department, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office. Twenty-two defendants have been convicted of the RICO conspiracy and 18 of those have been sentenced to between 21 months and life in prison. Four other defendants have pleaded guilty to related charges. Charges filed against two remaining defendants are pending.

Mr. Rosenstein and Ms. Jessamy gave special thanks to Secretary Gary Maynard of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services; Commissioner J. Michael Stouffer of the Maryland Division of Correction; Director Patrick McGee of the Maryland Division of Parole and Probation; and the officers at the Western and North Branch Correctional Institutions and the Wicomico County Detention Center for their work in the investigation and prosecution of this case.

Mr. Rosenstein and Mrs. Jessamy also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hanlon, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Mason, a cross-designated Baltimore City Assistant State’s Attorney, who are prosecuting the case and Assistant State’s Attorney LaRai Everett who assisted in the prosecution.