Final TTP Bloods Defendants Sentenced to Prison

All 28 Defendants Charged Have Been Convicted

BALTIMORE, MD—U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced Keili Dyson, a/k/a “SK,” age 28, of Baltimore today to 105 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for participating in a racketeering conspiracy through the Tree Top Piru Bloods (TTP Bloods), which engaged in narcotics trafficking, robbery, and acts of violence. Yesterday, Judge Quarles sentenced co-defendant Keon Williams, age 29, also of Baltimore, to 108 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute crack cocaine. All 28 defendants charged in the indictment have been convicted.

The sentences were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein; Special Agent in Charge Theresa R. Stoop of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Ava Cooper-Davis of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III; Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; Wicomico County State’s Attorney Matthew Maciardello; Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis; the Washington County Narcotics Task Force led by Washington County Sheriff Douglas Mullendore; Anne Arundel County Police Chief James Teare, Sr.; Salisbury Police Chief Barbara Duncan; and Hagerstown Police Chief Arthur Smith.

TTP Bloods, a violent gang, originated from a street gang known as “the Bloods” that was formed in Los Angeles, California in the early 1970s. The Bloods broke into individual “sets,” including a subset known as Tree Top Pirus (TTP). TTP spread throughout the country, including Maryland. TTP in Maryland has its roots in a local gang which began in the Washington County Detention Center in Hagerstown, Maryland in about 1999. The gang was formed for mutual protection in response to the aggression of other inmates from Baltimore and spread throughout Maryland mostly by recruiting from inside Maryland prisons.

According to Dyson’s plea agreement, he was a member of TTP and held the rank of OYG (Original Young Gangster). Dyson regularly met with other TTP gang members to discuss, among other things, past acts of violence and other crimes committed by gang members against rival gang members and others; which gang members were arrested or incarcerated; the disciplining of TTP gang members; police interactions with gang members; the identities of individuals who may be cooperating with law enforcement and proposed actions to be taken against those individuals; the commission of future crimes, including robberies, drug trafficking, and assaults, and the means to cover up these crimes; and the enforcement of gang rules. Dyson also corresponded with gang leaders and as part of his gang activities participated in a conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. According to Dyson’s plea agreement, on October 18, 2007, when detectives entered a home in the 4200 block of

Audrey Avenue

, Dyson was found sitting at a table in the living room with empty ziplock bags used for packaging drugs in front of him on the table. Dyson was arrested and law enforcement recovered from his pockets a plastic bag containing approximately seven grams of crack cocaine, as well as 13 orange ziplocks with crack cocaine in each bag, a digital scale with cocaine residue, a razor blade and a cell phone. From a black hooded sweatshirt that law enforcement had seen Dyson wearing earlier, agents recovered a 9 mm Taurus PT92 handgun and an additional 38 green ziplock bags containing crack cocaine.

According to Keon Williams’ plea agreement, from at least 2005 through February 2008, Williams and others distributed crack cocaine. Williams was overheard in intercepted telephone conversations discussing the purchase and sale of crack cocaine in the

Greenmount Avenue

corridor of Baltimore with other members of the conspiracy. Williams admitted that, along with other members of the conspiracy, he conspired to distribute between three and seven ounces of crack cocaine.

This case is the result of a long-term joint investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Baltimore City Police Department, the Baltimore County Police Department, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, and the United States Attorney’s Office. Twenty-three defendants have been convicted of the RICO conspiracy and 20 of those, including Dyson, have been sentenced to between 21 months and life in prison. Five defendants, including Williams, pleaded guilty to related charges.

Mr. Rosenstein and Mr. Bernstein gave special thanks to Secretary Gary Maynard of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services; Commissioner J. Michael Stouffer of the Maryland Division of Correction; Director Patrick McGee of the Maryland Division of Parole and Probation; and the officers at the Western and North Branch Correctional Institutions and the Wicomico County Detention Center for their work in the investigation and prosecution of this case.

Mr. Rosenstein and Mr. Bernstein also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hanlon and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Mason, a cross-designated Baltimore City Assistant State’s Attorney, who are prosecuting the case and Assistant State’s Attorney LaRai Everett, who assisted in the prosecution.