A federal grand jury has indicted 14 men (all but one from Baltimore) on charges linked to
alleged Black Guerilla Family activity in the Baltimore area, U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein announced Wednesday.
The indictment charges the 14 with conspiracy to violate racketeering and drug trafficking laws. Two are charged with conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder, four are charged with using a gun in relation to violent crimes, and others face lower level related federal charges.
“Federal, state and local agencies have joined to target leaders and key members of violent gangs operating in Baltimore City,” Rosenstein said in a release. “Today’s indictment alleges that the Black Guerilla Family gang is an organized criminal enterprise with leaders and members who deal drugs and commit violent crimes. Anyone who joins a criminal gang can be held accountable for all crimes committed by fellow gang members.”
The gang has long been a target for Rosenstein. Since April 2009, 118 alleged BGF members and associates have been indicted in federal court, the release notes.
Indicted Wednesday were Timothy Michael Gray, Robert Nedd, Mark Bazemore, Marshall Spence, Irvin Vincent, Glendrict Frazier, Timothy Hurtt, William Harrington, Tyrone Franklin, Troy Kellam, Calvin Palmer, Davon Robinson, Michael Smith Jr. and Daquan Burman. All live in Baltimore except Vincent.
Rosenstein alleges Gray is the citywide leader for the BGF, WJZ reports. A more than year-long FBI investigation and wiretaps led to the arrests.
“Violence, drug trafficking, murder—that’s what they do. That’s what we listened to for months over intercepts,” said FBI Special Agent In Charge Stephen Vogt.
The indictment alleges the 14 were involved with a string of crimes dating back to at least 2012 and a conspiracy to distribute heroine, cocaine, crack and oxycodone to customers in West Baltimore. Vincent is alleged to have distributed heroin to a co-conspirator who then sold the drug in Howard County. Three of those buyers died from overdoses, two of which were linked to heroin, according to the release.
The indictment alleges that between September and December 2013, Gray ordered the killing of one of his gang’s members then witnessed that man’s attempted murder at the hands of a third BGF member. He also sanctioned the murders of another BGF member and at least two others between then and June 2014.
In February, gang leader Tavon White was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison as part of a racketeering conspiracy from behind bars in the city detention center, in which he organized contraband smuggling and had sexual relationships with corrections officers.
The 14 defendants each could spend up to life in prison if found guilty on the racketeering and drug conspiracy charges. The other charges could each carry 10 to 20 years in prison. An initial appearance in U.S. District Court was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
