4 gang members sentenced to prison for crimes in Cherokee County

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — Four gang members have been sentenced to spend time behind bars for a string of car break-ins in Canton in 2019.

All four of the men are members of the Nine Trey Gangsters Bloods, which is a subgroup of the Bloods criminal street gang.

According to Susan K. Treadway, District Attorney for the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit, at around 4:15 a.m. on Jan. 24, 2019, Canton police responded to reports of cars being broken into on Oconee Way.

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Police said that after a resident saw two men breaking into his car, he tried to stop them, and one of them shot at him.

Officers later found a bullet hole in the witness’s garage, bullet holes in a neighbor’s home and vehicle, and shell casings on the street.

The men entered a total of 19 vehicles that day, all of which were unlocked at the time.

The men who fired the shots were identified as Damonte Dekeys Brown, 24, of Kennesaw, and Kadarius Keyonte Odims, 23, of Powder Springs.

Two other men, Shaquavion Adkins (aka Red Eye), 28, of Athens, and Trentavious Watkins (aka Epik/Big Homie Epik), 25, of Athens,were also charged for their part in the crime.

Treadway said those two men hold leadership roles in the Nine Trey Gangsters Bloods and required Odims to pay his “dues” to the criminal street gang.

“The co-defendants worked together as an enterprise for the purpose of illegally obtaining money and property. Money generated through organized criminal activity is typically used to pay gang membership dues or to further the interests of the gang,” Assistant District Attorney Kelly Chavis, of the Gang/Organized Crime Unit, who prosecuted this case on behalf of the State said.

The indictment for Brown and Odims included 75 charges: two counts of violating the RICO Act, 47 counts of violating the Street Gang Act, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, 19 counts of entering autos, two counts of first-degree criminal damage to property, financial transaction card theft, unlawful for person employed by or associated with criminal street gang, and theft by taking.

“In text message conversations prior to the crimes, both Watkins and Adkins reached out to Odims to make sure his dues were paid,” Chavis said. “Odims came to Cherokee County for the specific purpose of committing crimes to pay his dues to the Nine Trey Gangster Bloods.”

The four men entered guilty pleas at different hearings over the past two years.

Brown and Odims admitted to all 75 charges and both entered a non-negotiated guilty plea.

Brown was sentenced to 50 years, with the first 12 years to be served in prison.

Odims was sentenced to 30 years, with the first 20 years to be served in prison.

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Adkins and Watkins pleaded guilty to one count of violation of the Street Gang Act.

Both were sentenced to 10 years, with the first year to be served in confinement.

All four men were banned from Cherokee County and ordered to have no contact with the victims, co-defendants, or any known gang members, especially those associated with the Bloods and subgroup Nine Trey Gangster Bloods.

“When gang members enter our community to commit crimes against our residents, they learn quickly that Cherokee County doesn’t tolerate gang activity. Our law enforcement agencies work together to investigate these crimes, and the District Attorney’s Office is equipped with a specially trained unit to aggressively prosecute them,” Treadaway said.

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