LOS ANGELES – A leading figure in the Five Deuce Broadway Gangster Crips (BGC) street gang has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to racketeering and drug trafficking charges stemming from his role as the primary narcotics supplier to the gang.
Roosevelt Sumpter, also known as “TuTu,” 43, of Los Angeles, was sentenced on Monday to 240 months in prison by United States District Judge S. James Otero. After completing his prison term, Sumpter will be on supervised release for 10 years, and during that time he will be barred from residing in the gang’s claimed South Los Angeles territory.
Sumpter pleaded guilty in July to participating in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to distribute crack cocaine, illegally possessing a firearm, and selling crack cocaine near schools.
Sumpter acted as a “central drug supplier” to BGC, managed the operation of the gang’s “stash houses,” and supplied these locations with crack cocaine that was given to other BGC members for street-level sales, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutors. When he pleaded guilty, Sumpter admitted unlawfully possessing firearms, including a sawed-off shotgun, in connection with his drug trafficking on three separate occasions.
“In addition to being a prolific supplier of narcotics himself, this defendant employed other BGC gang members to run stash houses and directed them to transport drugs to other sellers,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “Given his longtime involvement with the gang, his strong presence in the gang’s drug activities and because he was often armed, justice has been served with the imposition of the two-decade prison sentence.”
Sumpter was among 72 defendants charged in a federal racketeering indictment that targeted BGC, a street gang that claims territory in South Los Angeles and controls drug sales in an area just west of the “Skid Row” district of Los Angeles. The indictment outlined two decades of criminal conduct, including murders, robberies, extortion, illegal firearms possession, witness intimidation and narcotics trafficking.
Seventy-one of the defendants named in the indictment have now appeared in federal court to face charges in the indictment (the final defendant is in state custody), which include conspiracy to violate the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), violent crimes in aid of racketeering, a series of robberies that targeted bank customers, weapons offenses and various drug trafficking charges. Four other top defendants in the case are scheduled to go on trial January 3.
The two lead defendants in the RICO case – Tyrine Martinez and Tracy Harris – pleaded guilty this past summer to federal charges. Martinez and Harris are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Otero on December 19, at which time both defendants will face potential life sentences and mandatory minimum prison terms of 15 and 10 years, respectively.
The investigation into BGC was conducted by agents and officers with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Los Angeles Police Department. Considerable assistance was provided during this investigation by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Torrance Police Department, the Buena Park Police Department, the El Segundo Police Department, the San Bernardino Police Department and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.
The investigation into BGC, which was called Operation “Gremlin Riderz,” was jointly conducted by the FBI and the LAPD under the auspices of the FBI’s Task Force on Violent Crime in the City of Los Angeles.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mack Jenkins of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, and Assistant United States Attorneys Max Shiner and Wilson Park of the Violent and Organized Crime Section.
