ATLANTA — A prosecutor on Monday introduced a sprawling indictment concentrating on members of what she stated is a violent road gang that has been concentrating on the Atlanta space properties of well-known athletes, entertainers and others who flaunt costly possessions on social media.
Singer Mariah Carey, Marlo Hampton of “The Actual Housewives of Atlanta,” Atlanta United participant Brad Guzan and the Atlanta Falcons’ Calvin Ridley all had their properties damaged into, the indictment says. The 220-count indictment was filed Aug. 22 and expenses 26 folks, most of whom are accused of violating Georgia’s anti-gang and racketeering legal guidelines.
Fulton County District Legal professional Fani Willis stated the crimes alleged within the indictment — carjacking, kidnapping, armed theft, shootings, house invasions — have been dedicated by members of the Drug Wealthy gang, which she stated started to emerge in 2016 in a neighboring county. Along with the movie star targets, social media influencers have been additionally victimized in house invasions and burglaries, Willis stated.
“What they do is goal individuals who present their wealth on social media,” she stated. “So I do have a message for the general public: The place it’s type of enjoyable to place your issues on social media and exhibit, sadly these gangs have gotten extra savvy, extra refined in the way in which that they aim you.”
However Willis additionally had a message for the alleged gang members: “Should you thought Fulton was a great county to convey your crime to, to convey your violence to, you’re unsuitable and you’re going endure penalties and at the moment is the beginning of a few of these penalties.”
Willis stated the indictment, filed final week, represented a collaboration between totally different regulation enforcement companies working collectively. Cracking down on gangs is a precedence for Willis, and she or he stated she intends to pursue powerful penalties for folks concerned with violent gang exercise.
“I’m not going to barter with gang members. I’m not going to permit pleas,” she stated. “We’re going to discover you, we’re going to convict you and we’re going to ship you to the jail for the remainder of your days, and I’m not apologizing for that.”
