By Joe Johnson
A federal grand jury on Thursday returned an indictment charging five alleged members of the Gangster Disciples street gang with murder and racketeering related to the alleged murder of three people, as well as various other offenses, including drug trafficking and obstruction of justice.
Andrea Paige Browner, aka Light Brite, aka Shawty, 27, of Athens and
Philmon Deshawn Chambers, aka Dolla Phil, 33, of Atlanta, were arrested in 2019 for allegedly participating in the killing of 32-year-old Rodriguez Apollo Rucker on Dec. 14 of that year outside his home on Royal Court in Athens.
Both suspects were subsequently indicted for malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and siX counts of violating the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism Prevention Act, but were never prosecuted locally.
They will now be prosecuted in U.S. District Court in Macon, where they were indicted this week with fellow gang members Lesley Chappell Green, aka Grip, 34, of Stone Mountain, Robert Maurice Carlisle, aka Different, 33, of Lithonia, and Shabazz Larry Guidry, aka Lil L, aka L, aka Lil Bro, aka Lil Larry, 27, of Decatur.
They were each charged with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) conspiracy.
Chambers and Browner were additionally each charged in Macon federal court with committing a violent crime in aid of Racketeering-murder; the carry, use and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence; and use of a firearm resulting in death.
According to the DOJ, the Gangster Disciples are a national gang with roots in Chicago, , dating to the 1970s, and are now active in at least 25 states. Among the crimes alleged in the federal indictment are three gang-related murders triggered by the murder of a Gangster Disciple member. After that murder, other Gangster Disciples allegedly sought to identify and retaliate against those responsible for the victim's death.
According to Athens-Clarke County police and court documents, Rucker was fatally shot by gunfire that came from a truck driven by Chambers, soon after Chambers had met Browner for sex at Days Inn on North Finley Street. Chambers was a relative of a the first Gangster Disciple to be murdered, authorities said.
Browner had checked into a room there with a phone number that was registered to Chambers, a police search warrant stated. After using the Lyft ride service to return home, police said that Chambers was killed by gunfire that came from Rucker’s pickup, which surveillance camera video showed had followed the Lyft vehicle to where Rucker was dropped off on Royal Court. Athens-Clarke police said they later determined from pinging the suspects’ cellphones that Browner and Chambers had fled to Texas, where they were arrested by local police and extradited back to Georgia. According to the state indictment, after learning that police suspected Chambers of Rucker's murder, Chambers and Browner fled to Texas. Chambers allegedly ordered that fellow gang members he suspected of cooperating with law enforcement, Athens residents Derrick Ruff and Joshua Jackson, be killed. Defendants Green, Guidry and Carlisle allegedly shot and killed Ruff and Jackson and left their bodies in a storage unit in Lawrenceville, Georgia, where they were discovered four months later.
Federal authorities allege that Chambers held a "position of authority" with the Gangster Disciples organization, which included overseeing members of the "Enforcement" or "Elimination" team (E-Team), and Browner belonged to allegedly a member the "Sisters of the Struggle" or "SOS," a female component of the Gangster Disciples.
Federal authorities allege that Chambers held a "position of authority" with the Gangster Disciples, which included overseeing members of the "Enforcement" or "Elimination" team (E-Team), and Browner belonged to the "Sisters of the Struggle" or "SOS," a female component of the street gang.
These cases are being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice's violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
The case is being investigated by FBI Athens Resident Agency Middle Georgia Safe Streets Gang Task Force, and the Athens-Clarke and Gwinnett County police departments.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Morrison of the Middle District of Georgia and trial attorney Ken Kaplan of the U.S. Justice Department's Organized Crime and Gang Section.
Being a member of a violent criminal gang alone should be automatic life in prison without parole.