Nine Trey Gangster Sentenced to Life for Four Murders

NORFOLK, Va. – A member of the Nine Trey Gangsters was sentenced today to life in prison for his role in four murders and several additional non-fatal shootings.

According to court documents, Anthony Foye, 26, of Suffolk, is a member of the Nine Trey Gangsters, a street gang with members in states across the East Coast that is affiliated with the United Blood Nation. Foye and another gang member convicted of multiple murders, Nathaniel Mitchell, were trying to gain a reputation within the gang as “shooters.” In furtherance of his membership in the gang, Foye murdered Al-Tariq Tynes, Vandalet Mercer, Linda Lassiter, and Wayne Davis, shot into a residence in Portsmouth, and shot several other individuals across South Hampton Roads. Almost none of the shooting victims had any affiliation with the Nine Trey Gangsters or any other street gang, and three of Foye’s murder victims were the parents or grandparents of young children.

Foye pleaded guilty on Sept. 8, 2017, to four counts of murder in aid of racketeering activity, and faced a mandatory life sentence on each count.

Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Mark R. Herring, Attorney General of Virginia; Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; Larry D. Boone, Chief of Norfolk Police; Tonya D. Chapman, Chief of Portsmouth Police; James A. Cervera, Chief of Virginia Beach Police; Col. K.L. Wright, Chief of Chesapeake Police; and Thomas E. Bennett, Chief of Suffolk Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph E. DePadilla, Andrew C. Bosse, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney John F. Butler, and Trial Attorney Teresa A. Wallbaum of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, are prosecuting the case.

The case was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force’s (OCDETF) Operation Billy Club. The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.  Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:16-cr-130.