ALBANY. Ga. — Eight members of the Bloods gang in Georgia have been indicted on human trafficking charges after a 16-year-old girl escaped and reported them, the attorney general said on Thursday.
The victim escaped from members of the Inglewood Family Gang in Albany in August of 2019. The group is a sect of the national criminal gang the Bloods, which originally formed in Los Angeles.
The victim was able to escape from gang members and report her abuse to authorities, prompting a year-long investigation by the GBI.
The investigation revealed that the gang members placed the victim in sexual servitude in order to generate money.
Investigators found that the victim was advertised as an adult online. Gang members would make arrangements for the victim to have sex with numerous men over a two-month time frame from June to August 2019. The arrangements were known as “plays,” and would occur in hotels, motels and vehicles throughout Albany. Proceeds from the trafficking funded the gang and its other illegal activities, investigators said.
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Those indicted include:
Bryant Hooker
Johnny Howard
Jamie Rosier
Treshawn Smith
Jeston Yates
Ronaldo Patterson
Korina Johnson
Robert Wingfield
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They face a total of 54 charges, which include rape, aggravated sodomy, sexual battery, racketeering, false imprisonment, pimping and sex trafficking. The gang members have not been sentenced, but some could face life in prison.
“Gangs are behind the crime wave that is affecting Georgia communities, and members are willing to commit horrific acts to help fuel their illegal activities,” said Attorney General Chris Carr. “We will continue to vigorously prosecute gang members for their crimes, and we look forward to presenting this case – which contends there is a nexus between gangs and human trafficking – in court.”
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