10 Alleged Members Of The Eight Tray Gangsta Crips Indicted In Baltimore, Feds Say
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Ten alleged members of Eight Tray Gangsta Crips gang in Baltimore were indicted by a federal grand jury for racketeering, drug conspiracies, murder, assault, robbery, witness intimidation and related gun charges.
The indictment, which was returned on Sept. 30, was announced Wednesday by federal prosecutors. The feds say these defendants allegedly committed four murders and a number of shootings in the name of the gang. It was unsealed upon the arrest of six of the defendants; four others were already in custody.
"This is the second federal indictment filed in several weeks charging Baltimore gang members who terrorize their neighborhoods with drug dealing, gun violence, and witness intimidation. We continue to root out the drivers of violent crime and deadly drug dealing and hold accountable those who bring them to our streets," U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur said. "These defendants now face decades in federal prison, where there are no suspended sentences or parole—ever. And witness intimidation and retaliation will not be tolerated—period. We need the community's help to continue these efforts."
The ETG Crips were a violent subset of the Crip gang that operated on Baltimore streets and in correction facilities in Maryland and elsewhere, the feds said. The gang controlled the drug trade in particular parts of the city near between West Baltimore Street and South Hilton Street in West Baltimore (the "Baltimore Hilton neighborhood"), the area around the intersection between West Lexington Street and North Fremont Avenue (the "Lexington Terrace neighborhood"), and the area around the intersection between Frankford Avenue and Sinclair Lane in North Baltimore (the "Frankford Sinclair neighborhood").
"Members of the 'ETG' Crips used violence as their calling card, leaving that card all over this neighborhood with a goal of flooding the streets with fear while they tried to tear down our neighborhoods. We cannot let them get away with it," said Jennifer C. Boone, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Baltimore Field Office. "These indictments send a message to all gang members in West Baltimore and beyond – we will be relentless in our pursuit of violent gang members who have besieged communities like Lexington Terrace and the Baltimore Hilton neighborhood for far too long."
The ETG Crips started in Los Angeles, California in the 1970s. After growing in LA, they spread across the country and came to Maryland in the 2000s. In Baltimore, one group calls themselves the Baccwest ETG Crips and another group calls themselves the Nutty North Side ETG Crips.
According to the 12-count indictment, from at least 2008 through the date of the indictment, the defendants allegedly participated in a racketeering conspiracy related to their gang indictments.
"The indictment alleges that the acting leader of the Baccwest ETG Crips in Baltimore was Trayvon Hall, who was referred to as a "G" of the gang. In or about 2013, Hall flew to California to meet with West Coast leaders of the ETG Crips and gain their official approval for his Baccwest ETG Crips set in Baltimore," the press release stated. "The ETG Crips operated street-level drug distribution "shops" in Baltimore, distributing heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, and marijuana, among other controlled substances. Non-members who attempted to sell drugs in the ETG Crips' territories were targeted for violence by ETG Crips members. The gang's primary drug shops were located in the Baltimore Hilton neighborhood (which the Baccwest ETG Crips considered to be their headquarters), the Lexington Terrace neighborhood, and the Franklin Sinclair neighborhood."
The gang used social media websites to assert claims to certain neighborhoods.
"Members of the ETG Crips posted photographs and rap videos to these social media websites in which they flaunted firearms and threatened to kill those who stood in the way of the gang," the feds stated in a press release.
The ETG Crips also allegedly conspired to murder members of the Black Guerilla Family (BGF) gang who operated a rival drug shop in the Lexington Terrace neighborhood in 2016.
In June 2016, ETG Crips members attempted to murder two BGF gang members but instead shot two other people at the time. The federal indictment alleges Hall murdered BGF member Albert Pittman on July 18, 2016, in the 4800 block of Midline Road. The indictment also alleges Hall opened fire on more members of the BGF gang in November 11, 2016, murdering BGF member Shyheim Brown and wounding two others.
The indictment claims Hall sent an unindicted co-conspirator a series of text messages about the shooting, saying he had "Jus bashed the monkeys" (a derogatory term for members of BGF), and they "Wasn't exspecting [sic] me be out early lmGCao [laughing my Gangster Crip *** off]."
The indictment also alleges that the ETG Crips conspired to murder members of the Abington Avenue drug trafficking organization between July 2017 and July 2019. The feds claim members of the ETG Crips murdered two members of the gang.
"The ETG Crips defended their turf, which means they didn't let anyone else sell drugs in their territories," Hur said.
Boone added they used fear to keep witnesses quiet.
"One of the defendants said that the people who lived in one of the neighborhoods were too scared to come outside anymore. We can not and must not accept this," she said.
The following defendants, all of Baltimore, are listed in the indictment:
- Trayvon Hall, a/k/a Tru and G-Tru, age 29;
- Ronnie Finney, a/k/a Fin, age 34;
- Donnell Foster, a/k/a Fuss, age 30;
- Daran Hickman, a/k/a Chizzle, age 28;
- David Jackson, a/k/a Dev and Lil David, age 25;
- Alvin Johnson, a/k/a Jug, age 29;
- Keith Pinson, a/k/a Gotti, age 27;
- Devon Powell, a/k/a Smuppy, age 29;
- Ridgley Shipley, a/k/a Crazy, age 30; and
- Marcus Williams, a/k/a Gangsta C and GC, age 32.
If convicted, the defendants all face a maximum sentence of 20 years for racketeering and 40 years for drug conspiracy.
Hall, Powell and Shipley face a number of other charges and could be sentenced to additional time.
