Gangs, an organized crime and major players in Greenville: What we know (2024)

Drugs, money, torture and murder were all part of aweb of gang-related, organized crime that flourished in South Carolina from at least 2017 until now, according to a federal indictment unsealed Thursday.

Charges that could lead to the dismantling of parts of the enterprise were announced Thursday afternoon in Columbia, where the case was described as the largest federal racketeering conspiracy in South Carolina history.

Here is what we know about the case:

►The enterprise, fueled bypeople who included South Carolina inmates, pledged allegiance to the Insane Gangster Disciples, a branch of the larger gang Folk Nation, which traces its roots to 1970s Chicago.

►A 147-count indictment names at least 40 defendants from across South Carolina, including multiple players from Greenville, Anderson and Spartanburg counties.

►Major moves in the group's day-to-day operations can be traced to South Carolina'sUpstate, records show. From a storage unit in Greenville to a drive-by shooting in Travelers Rest, to the killing of an inmate from Anderson, the case has deep connections to the region.

►A woman who was thought by the gangto bea police informant was kidnapped, stuffed into the trunk of a car and water boarded before she was fatally shot in the head in Laurens County, according to federal records.

►The investigation into the ring of organized crime began in 2017 and continued through 2020.

► As recently as January 2020,a man was killed at a home in Piedmont, because a gang member believed his drug money had been stolen at that house.

► The Insane Gangster Disciples— or IGD— made their own language and their own rules. They used code words and phrases like "6 for 6"— the name for an initiation — and "honeypot" to describe the money they used to buy weapons or bail their members out of jail.

► The gang had a clear power structure, with high-ranking "board members," "governors" to oversee certain regions or activities and lesser-ranked "brothers of the struggle" or "sisters of the struggle."

►For money, the group distributed methamphetamine and heroin, in part by forging ties with an inmate connected to a Mexican drug cartel, according to the federal indictment. ►The group also agreed to, and attempted to, commit robbery, extortion, arson and trafficking in firearms. Some members specialized in money laundering and taught others how to do it, court documents show.

►According to the indictment, some inmates housed by the South Carolina Department of Correctionsused smuggledcellphones, to order from prison, killings or other violence that was then handled by people on the outside.

►The dozens of defendants in the case includeat least six with ties to Greenville, at least two from Anderson County and at least one fromSpartanburg County.

►“To anyone who would try to harm the people of South Carolina with violence, intimidation or extortion, we are coming after you wherever you are,” U.S. AttorneyPeter McCoy said in a prepared statement. “Neither pandemic nor prison walls will provide refuge from the full force of the federal government."

►The people charged in this case face a range of allegations, from weapons charges to murder charges.

►According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the people charged in this case are:

· Edward Gary Akridge, a/k/a “G9,” a/k/a “G9 the Don,” a/k/a/ “Eddie Boss,” 28, of Greenville;

· Juan Rodriguez, a/k/a “Fat Boy,” 40, of Woodruff;

· Matthew J. Ward, a/k/a “Bones,” 36, of Lexington;

· Rebecca Martinez, 33, of Lexington;

· Cynthia Rooks, 52, of Lexington;

· Richard Ford, 62, of Lexington;

· Amber Hoffman, 26, of Lexington;

· Samuel Dexter Judy, 29, of Lexington;

· Brian Bruce, 48, of West Columbia;

· Montana Barefoot, 25, of Lexington;

· John Johnson, 36, of Gaston;

· Kelly Still, 43, of Windsor;

· Benjamin Singleton, 46, of Lexington;

· Kayla Mattoni, 38, of Lexington;

· Alexia Youngblood, 38, of Lexington;

· Clifford Kyzer, 35, of Lexington;

· Kelly Jordan, 34, of Williamston;

· Mark Edward Slusher, 46, of Lexington;

· Robert Figueroa, 43, of West Columbia;

· Tiffanie Brooks, 36, of Columbia;

· Crystal Nicole Bright, 40, of Lexington;

· Brittney Shae Stephens, 32, of Anderson;

· Arian Grace Jeane, 26, of Greenville;

· Lisa Marie Costello, 43, of Gaffney;

· Aaron Corey Sprouse, 29, of Gaffney;

· Matthew Edward Clark, 41, of York;

· James Robert Peterson, a/k/a/ “Man Man,” 32, of Gaffney;

· Aaron Michael Carrion, a/k/a “Cap G,” 28, of Lexington;

· Heather Henderson Orrick, 33, of Greenville;

· Virginia Ruth Ryall, 43, of Gastonia, North Carolina;

· Lisa Marie Bolton, 32, of Dallas, North Carolina;

· Catherine Amanda Ross, 28, of Gaffney;

· Brandon Lee Phillips, a/k/a “Lil B,” 36, of Gaffney;

· Billy Wayne Ruppe, 55, of Gaffney;

· Windy Brooke George, 21, of Gaffney;

· Jonathan Eugene Merchant, a/k/a/ “Merck,” 27, of Laurens;

· Joshua Lee Scott Brown, 23, of Greenville;

· Jennifer Sorgee, 36, of Easley;

· Alex Blake Payne, 28, of Greenville; and

· Sally Williams Burgess, a/k/a “Cricket,” 37, of Greenville.