Six members of the Nine Trey Gangster Bloods gang plead guilty to RICO conspiracy

 ATLANTA – In a series of pleas, six members of the Nine Trey Gangsters (NTG) national criminal organization pleaded guilty to Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Organization (RICO) conspiracy charges.

“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.”

“The Department will continue to bring to justice the leaders and most violent members of dangerous criminal enterprises like the Nine Trey Gangsters,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Removing those most responsible for the violence and drug dealing perpetrated by members and associates of violent street gangs like the Nine Trey Gangsters makes our neighborhoods and communities safer.”

“Members of Nine Trey Gangsters have plagued our streets with violence and drug trafficking for far too long,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “These pleas are an example of our commitment to dismantle organized, violent criminal enterprises. The community can rest assured these defendants won’t be on our streets for a very long time, thanks to the efforts of the FBI led Safe Streets Gang Task Force and its state and local partners.”

“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.”

According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: The Nine Trey Gangsters are a national gang that started in the prisons of New York as a subset of the United Bloods Nation and has since spread throughout the East Coast and Southeast.  The NTG are a criminal organization whose members and associates engage in acts of violence, including murder, assaults, robbery, firearms possession, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, drug trafficking, extortion, and other criminal activities, which took place in the Northern District of Georgia and elsewhere.

The Nine Trey Gangsters have a hierarchical structure their members throughout the country are subdivided into separate groups or “lines.”  Each NTG member has a specific rank within the gang or a specific line, and this rank comes with specific duties and responsibilities.  Each of the six defendants who pleaded guilty were part of the gang’s “Fire” line.

The following NTG gang members have pleaded guilty to count one of the second superseding indictment charging them and four others with RICO conspiracy:

Tyrone Clark, a/k/a “Tight Eye,” Joseph Riley, a/k/a “Joe Blow,” Gary Sartor a/k/a “G-Stacks,” and Patrick Caple a/k/a “Zoe,” all held the rank of “Fifth Floor” in the gang’s hierarchy, one of the highest ranks an individual can hold within a line of the gang.  In those roles they were responsible for overseeing all of the members below them and reporting up to the gang’s national leadership.

• Tyrone Clark, a/k/a “Tight Eye,” Joseph Riley, a/k/a “Joe Blow,” Gary Sartor a/k/a “G-Stacks,” and Patrick Caple a/k/a “Zoe,” all held the rank of “Fifth Floor” in the gang’s hierarchy, one of the highest ranks an individual can hold within a line of the gang.  In those roles they were responsible for overseeing all of the members below them and reporting up to the gang’s national leadership.
• Brandon Asberry a/k/a “B5,” held the rank of “Second Floor” in the gang’s hierarchy.  In the role of Second Floor, Asberry was responsible for collecting dues form the gang’s members and overseeing the gang’s meetings or “nines.”
• Michael Jackson a/k/a “MJ,” held the rank of “Third Floor” in the gang’s hierarchy, where he was responsible for planning “wars” or conflicts with rival gangs and providing weapons to other NTG members.

Gary Sartor, Patrick Caple, and Michael Jackson were in Georgia Department of Corrections custody when they participated in the conspiracy.

Tyrone Clark, 40, of Marietta, Georgia, Joseph Riley, 37, of Atlanta, Georgia, Gary Sartor, 37, of Atlanta, Georgia, Patrick Caple, 56, of Glennville, Georgia, Michael Jackson, 27, of Chester, Georgia, and Brandon Asberry, 32, of Atlanta, Georgia have pleaded guilty to Count 1 of the Second Superseding Indictment, charging them and four others with RICO Conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) for their involvement in planning, facilitating, and executing multiple acts of violence and participation in the gang’s drug trafficking activities, including the distribution of methamphetamine, marijuana and Xanax.  Each defendant will be sentenced in the coming months by U.S. District Court Judge Amy Totenberg. 

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of their FBI Safe Streets Task Force with assistance from the Georgia Department of Corrections.