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Press Release

Raleigh Eight Trey Gangster Crip Convicted in Aborted Murder Plot Targeting Rival Gang Member Receives 11 years in Prison

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. – A Raleigh member of the Eight Trey Gangster Crips (ETGC) was sentenced yesterday to 132 months in prison for trafficking methamphetamine and his role in a murder conspiracy to kill a rival gang member that was aborted by law enforcement. Clinton Basco pled guilty to the charges on June 23, 2021.

“This case is part of an operation that led to over twenty indictments, taking down dangerous gang leaders and those who, like Basco, peddled dangerous drugs and conspired to kill rivals,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley.  “We’ve forged a close partnership with Raleigh Police and the ATF to tackle violent crime, allowing for swift action by police to prevent yet another senseless murder.” 

According to court documents and other information presented in court, an investigation identified a large drug-trafficking organization (DTO) which was distributing significant amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine, phencyclidine (PCP), 3,4-Methlyenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and marijuana in the Raleigh area. The conduct of the DTO was perpetrated by leaders, members, and associates of the ETGC. Basco was responsible for conspiring to distribute more than 1,124.54 kilograms of converted drug weight in the Raleigh area. 

Basco was in a leadership role within the ETGC and was known as an enforcer who committed acts of violence of behalf of the EGTC in Raleigh.  Wiretap surveillance intercepted a conversation among members of the ETGC to kill a member of a rival gang that had tased high-level ETGC member Deandre Earp. At the direction of ETGC leader Dexter Maxwell, another gang member, Rayquan Wiggins, provided information on when the target of the murder plot would be in a certain area in Raleigh so that other ETGC’s, Basco and Earp, could commit the murder. Agents took enforcement action to prevent the murder from occurring by having Basco and Earp stopped as they were traveling by car to go murder the rival gang member.  They were arrested before the murder could be committed. Maxwell and Earp previously pled guilty to charges related to the planned murder, as well as drug trafficking charges.  Earp was sentenced to 40 years. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ednc/pr/raleigh-eight-trey-crip-gangster-sentenced-40-years-prison-vicar-and-methamphetamine Maxwell’s sentencing is pending.

This investigation is part of an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force Operation (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launders, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Raleigh Police Department led the investigation with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Raleigh/Wake City-County Bureau of Identification and United States Marshals Service.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly L. Sandling prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No.  5:19-cr-00395-D-5.

Updated April 18, 2023

Topic
Drug Trafficking