Nearly 2 dozen alleged gang members, some already behind bars charged in sweeping investigation

ATLANTA — Federal authorities announced a 12-count indictment Monday, charging 23 defendants for committing organized crimes, including murder, both on the streets and behind bars.

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“The defendants charged in this case allegedly perpetrated numerous violent and other criminal offenses, including multiple murders, brutal assaults, and drug trafficking crimes, on behalf of the gang Sex Money Murder,” said Northern District of Georgia U.S. Attorney Bryan Buchanan. “For more than a decade, these gang members and their associates allegedly orchestrated a criminal enterprise within and outside of multiple prisons to earn money for, boost their status in, and impose discipline required by, the gang. This indictment is the culmination of a lengthy and carefully coordinated federal and state law enforcement investigation aimed at dismantling this violent group.”

Authorities told Channel 2′s Tom Regan that the extensive criminal enterprise, which included inmates within the Georgia Department of Corrections, often used contraband cellphones to orchestrate numerous crimes for various purposes including financial profit or extracting revenge.

One of the more disturbing crimes involved the murder of a baby boy in 2014.

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“One that sticks in my mind is the murder of nine-month-old Kendarius Edwards. He was shot to death as four gang members and associates stormed into a DeKalb County home. Court records show gang members fired twenty rounds into the home and struck Kendarius, eight others struck his mother who was trying to shield her baby.” said FBI Atlanta Deputy Special Agent in Charge Sean Burke.

Authorities said the indictment was the result of a lengthy and carefully coordinated federal, state and local law enforcement investigation aimed at dismantling violent groups like this gang.

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