Who Is The Sex Money Murder Gang?

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Two dozen members of the Sex Money Murder Gang were indicted on federal RICO charges Tuesday for crimes including racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking and firearms violations. Their indictment was unsealed just weeks before the RICO charge for rapper Young Thug and his co-defendants is set to begin.

But who is the Sex Money Murder Gang and what led to the 12-count indictment and 23 defendants charged?

According to the indictment, the Sex Money Murder (SMM) Gang originated in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, subsetting from the popular LA street gang the Bloods. The organization then spread to the Bronx in New York City, until moving into the south, including Georgia, where it operates inside and outside prisons and jails.

The indictment alleges that SMM members, including inmates within the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDOC), committed numerous crimes including murders, attempted murders, attempted arson, drug trafficking within and outside of GDOC facilities, and wire and bank fraud. Almost half of the defendants were in prison when they allegedly committed or ordered the charged crimes.

The indictment goes on to say that SMM members committed multiple acts of violence in furtherance of the racketeering conspiracy, including storming a home and shooting multiple rounds of ammunition into a bathroom, killing a 9-month-old boy. The 11 members who are incarcerated are also accused of murdering, stabbing or beating other inmates for disrespecting SMM leadership or violating the gang’s rules, even killing SMM members who may have cooperated with law enforcement.

“The defendants and their criminal associates are alleged to have committed murder, engaged in stabbings and attempted murder, and distributed thousands of dollars’ worth of illicit drugs inside and outside the Georgia prison system, all to enhance the power and prestige of their gang, the Sex Money Murder set of The Bloods,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a press release. “With this RICO indictment, the Criminal Division, along with our federal, state, and local partners, again shows its commitment to hold accountable and bring to justice violent gang members who terrorize our communities and attempt to control our country’s prison systems.”

If convicted, the members of SMM could face penalties including up to life in prison for the racketeering conspiracy, 10 years to life in prison for the narcotics conspiracy and drug trafficking charges, and five years to life in prison for the firearms offenses.

“Gang activity poses a grave risk of harm to our communities as well as to many of our institutions,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan for the Northern District of Georgia. “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.”

The indictment comes just weeks before rapper Young Thug and the six other defendants are expected to begin their trial in a similar RICO indictment. Young Thug, whose legal name is Jeffery Williams, has remained in jail since his May 2022 arrest. The Atlanta rapper was arrested and charged with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, citing his participation in street gang activity. Williams and 28 members of his YSL team were named in the indictment. Prosecutors in the rapper’s case also labeled YSL, Young Thug’s music label, a criminal gang.

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