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Press Release

Brandon Wilson, Member Of Violent West Baltimore Gang, Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison For Federal Racketeering And Drug Conspiracies, And Gun Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland
Federal Jury Found Wilson Possessed Heroin, Marijuana, and Cocaine, as well as Murder Weapon Found at his Home

                                                                                

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                              Contact MARCIA MURPHY

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                     at (410) 209-4854

 

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake today sentenced Brandon Wilson, a/k/a Ali, age 24, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 25 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiring to participate in a drug distribution conspiracy and a violent racketeering enterprise known as Trained To Go (TTG).  The racketeering conspiracy included eight murders, as well as drug trafficking and witness intimidation. Wilson and his co-defendants were also convicted of a drug distribution conspiracy involving heroin, marijuana, and cocaine.  Wilson was convicted of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and of being a felon in possession of a firearm.  The firearm was linked to a murder which occurred the day before the gun was found in Wilson’s home.  A federal jury convicted Wilson and seven co-defendants on October 31, 2018. 

The sentencing was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting Special Agent in Charge Jennifer L. Moore of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Acting Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department; Special Agent in Charge Rob Cekada of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Don A. Hibbert of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Anne Arundel County Police Chief Tim Altomare; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby.

According to the evidence presented at their 24-day trial, Wilson and his co-defendants are all members of TTG, a criminal organization that operated in the Sandtown neighborhood of West Baltimore, whose members engaged in drug distribution and acts of violence including murder, armed robbery, and witness intimidation.  As part of the conspiracy, each defendant agreed that a conspirator would commit at least two acts of racketeering activity for TTG. 

The evidence at trial showed that members and associates of TTG sold heroin, cocaine, and marijuana, and worked to defend their exclusive right to control who sold narcotics in TTG territory.   Specifically, the evidence proved that between May 20, 2010 and January 9, 2017, Wilson, his co-defendants, and other members of TTG committed acts of violence, including eight murders, shootings, armed robbery, and witness intimidation.  Murders were committed in retaliation for individuals robbing TTG members of drugs and drug proceeds, or while TTG members robbed others of their drugs and drug proceeds, as well as in murder-for-hire schemes.  A gun recovered during a search of Wilson’s residence on January 10, 2017, was determined to have been used in a murder on January 9, 2017.  Further, the defendants engaged in witness intimidation through violence or threats of violence, to prevent individuals from cooperating with law enforcement.

The leader of the gang, Montana Barronette, a/k/a Tana, and Tanner, age 23, of Baltimore, was sentenced to life in federal prison on February 15, 2019.

The remaining defendants convicted at the trial are all from Baltimore, and face a maximum sentence of life in federal prison on the racketeering and drug conspiracies.  They include:

Terrell Sivells, a/k/a Rell, age 27; John Harrison, a/k/a Binkie, age 28; Taurus Tillman, a/k/a Tash, age 29; Linton Broughton, a/k/a Marty, age 25; Dennis Pulley, a/k/a Denmo, age 31; and Timothy Floyd, a/k/a Tim Rod, age 28.

The defendants remain detained.

Three other TTG members previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced to between five and 25 years in prison.  Another defendant, Roger Taylor, a/k/a Milk, is a fugitive.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI Baltimore Safe Streets Violent Gang Task Force, which includes FBI special agents and task force officers from the Baltimore, Baltimore County, and Anne Arundel County Police Departments.  The FBI Baltimore Safe Streets Violent Gang Task Force is responsible for identifying and targeting the most violent gangs in the Baltimore metropolitan area, to address gang violence and the associated homicides in Baltimore.  The vision of the program is to use federal racketeering statutes to disrupt and dismantle significant violent criminal threats and criminal enterprises affecting the safety and well-being of our citizens and our communities.      

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of its renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.               

Wilson is still facing charges for allegedly assaulting employees of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) while he was detained and being transported to and from the courtroom during their trial.  The indictment alleges that on October 31, 2018, Wilson assaulted two Maryland Department of Correction officers in the Chesapeake Detention Facility as they attempted to search Wilson prior to his being transported to U.S. District Court for the continuation of his trial.  If convicted of the assault charges, Wilson faces a maximum sentence of eight years in federal prison.  An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.  The U.S. Marshals Service is investigating the case.

United States Attorney Robert K. Hur and Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski commended the FBI, the Baltimore Police Department, the ATF, the DEA, the Anne Arundel County Police Department, and the Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel C. Gardner, Christopher J. Romano, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney John C. Hanley formerly of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, who prosecuted this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.

 

Updated March 1, 2019