Classic City News
Jun 21, 20233 min
By Joe Johnson
The leader of the 1831 Piru Blood criminal street gang in Athens and a co-conspirator this week pleaded guilty to federal fentanyl distribution charges that resulted from a lengthy FBI-led investigation dubbed "Operation Tourniquet" two years ago.
Gregory O'Neal Wade, Jr. aka "Woop," "Big Homie," and "OOG," pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Athens to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl, one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl and one count of possession of an illegal machine gun.
He faces a mandatory minimum of ten years up to a maximum sentence of life in prison. There is no pastrole in thse federeral penal system.
A co-defendant, 31 year old Johnathan Edward Brown, aka "Zeus," of Riverdale, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl. He faces the same penalty as Wade at sentencing, scheduled for Oct. 3.
"Fentanyl, Glock switches and gangs is a particularly deadly combination and one which has no place on the streets of Athens," U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia Peter D. Leary said in a prepared release. "Operation Tourniquet's success is the result of the excellent partnership between many law enforcement agencies focused on reducing violent crime and the spread of fentanyl."
"The gangs pushing deadly fentanyl in our communities have a role in fueling the deadliest drug epidemic our country has ever seen," said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. "The FBI is determined to continue working with our partners to cut the head off the snake by targeting the leaders of these operations and removing them from our streets."
Athens-Clarke County Police Chief Jerry Saulters added, "This successful outcome of Operation Tourniquet is a testament to the invaluable partnerships we have with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. The collaborative efforts have allowed us to disrupt a significant threat to our community. I want to emphasize that we will not tolerate the presence of gangs, or the distribution of deadly substances like fentanyl within our community and will continue to prioritize our efforts against such networks."
According to court documents, Wade and his 1831 Piru associates were the subjects of the Operation Tourniquet probe of violent crime and fentanyl distribution in the Athens-Clarke County region. The 1831 Piru Bloods are a set of the nationally affiliated Piru street gang, which originated in the 1960s in Compton, California. Throughout 2020 and 2021, the 1831 Piru Bloods engaged in numerous illegal acts involving drugs and firearms in the Athens area when Wade was its leader. The gang reportedly claimed two Sycamore Drive apartment complexes as their territory - The Flats and Regency Park, referred to as "The Trenches" by gang members who sold guns and drugs from those locations.
As a result of Operation Tourniquet, agents ultimately executed a search warrant at Wade's Jennings Mill Parkway apartment in July 2021. He attempted to evade arrest by leaping out of a third story window but was apprehended by a police K-9 and his handler. Inside the apartment, officers found Brown and D'Angelo Caleb Perkins aka "Yak," 26, of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, who had been staying with Wade. The apartment contained almost a kilogram of fentanyl, approximately 90 grams of cocaine and over eight pounds of marijuana. In Wade's bedroom dresser drawer, officers found a Glock 19 with an auto sear switch, a mechanism that converts a semi-automatic handgun into a fully automatic machine gun. In the same drawer, a 30-round extended magazine and a 50-round drum magazine was recovered. Wade admitted that he kept the machine gun as protection. Officers found additional firearms, a "kilo press" used to compress illegal drugs purchased by Brown and a money counter in Wade's apartment.
On June 6, 2021, Brown communicated with a drug supplier in China who was using the name "Convert." Brown requested to purchase one kilogram of fentanyl to which Convert sent a reply message: "Sorry, the product you interested are controlled product in China." Brown then began to communicate over WhatsApp with a new source named "Marcus" and negotiated a one-kilogram fentanyl transaction. Wade, along with Brown, admitted to buying and selling large quantities of fentanyl and other drugs for distribution in the Athens community.
Co-conspirator Perkins is wanted on multiple federal charges, including conspiracy to distribute cocaine and fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Perkins remains at-large. Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is urged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
This case was investigated by the FBI Athens Middle Georgia Safe Streets Gang Task Force, the GBI Gang Unit, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department Gang Unit, the Northeast Georgia Regional Drug Task Force, the Oconee County Sheriff's Office and the Georgia Department of Corrections.