TENNESSEE BLOODS GANG MEMBER PLEADS GUILTY IN RACKETEERING CONSPIRACY

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Friday, May 23, 2014

Bloods Gang Member Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy in Tennessee

Kenneth Gaddie, aka K.G., 24, of Nashville, Tennessee, pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy in federal court in Nashville, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. O’Neil of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney David Rivera for the Middle District of Tennessee and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey L. Fulton for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Nashville Field Division.

According to the plea agreement, from 2006 through December 2011, Gaddie was a member and associate of the Bloods gang.  He and other known Bloods gang members committed multiple acts of murder, robbery, and narcotics trafficking on behalf of the gang.

Gaddie and numerous Bloods gang members met at various locations in the Nashville area, including Shelby Park, Cedar Hill Park and the Galaxy Star Drug Awareness and Gang Prevention Center, on a regular basis to, among other things, report on gang-related business, collect dues, commit disciplinary actions against fellow gang members, discuss acts of violence against rival gang members and initiate or “jump in” new members by beating them.

Further according to the plea agreement, on June 25, 2008, Gaddie shot and wounded an individual in furtherance of the Bloods gang’s criminal enterprise.  Less than one month after this incident, on July 17, 2008, Gaddie and others shot at another individual.

Thirty-seven individuals have pleaded guilty or have been convicted at trial in the Middle District of Tennessee to various crimes related to their involvement in the Bloods gang.  Gaddie is the final defendant to be convicted of racketeering offenses in connection with this investigation.   He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 21, 2014.

The investigation was a joint operation conducted by the ATF; the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department; U.S. Marshals Service; the LaVergne, Tennessee, Police Department; and the Davidson County, Tennessee Sheriff’s Office.  The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Kevin L. Rosenberg of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scarlett S. Nokes of the Middle District of Tennessee, and former Trial Attorney Cody Skipper of the Organized Crime and Gang Section.