“Trigger” Matthews sent to slammer for 17 years in South Side Brims gang racketeering gig

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Reunion of SSB gang membersBALTIMORE, MD. (Sept. 3, 2014) —U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Theodore Clifton Matthews, a/k/a “Trigger,” age 32, of Baltimore, today to 210 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiring to participate in a racketeering enterprise, the South Side Brims (SSB) Bloods gang.

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The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Steven E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Colonel Marcus L. Brown, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Acting Special Agent in Charge William P. McMullan of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Baltimore Field Division; Commissioner Anthony W. Batts of the Baltimore Police Department; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein.

According to his plea agreement, Matthews was a member of the SSBs, a subset of the Bloods Gang which is a violent street gang with thousands of members across the country. The traditional power centers of the Bloods’ gang’s national leadership structure are predominantly located in California and its members and associates have operated in many states across the country. The SSBs are located primarily in Maryland, but have ties to other Bloods gang members in California, New York City, New Jersey, Virginia, and South Carolina. SSBs have operated in the District of Maryland since at least 2005.

Matthews was a member of the SSBs operating in and around Baltimore. On September 4, 2009, a street fight broke out between two groups of men in the Curtis Bay neighborhood in Baltimore. One man was struck on his head with a brick. Others pulled out knives, including David Hunt, a member of the Dead Man Inc. prison gang. The fight continued down Pennington Avenue onto Elmtree Street. At some point, Matthews directed an SSB member to retrieve a 12 gauge shotgun and urged him to shoot David Hunt. Another SSB member subsequently fired the shotgun and killed David Hunt.

On November 4, 2010, Matthews was arrested in the 4600 block of Pennington Avenue in Baltimore, in possession of 15 small bags, each containing crack cocaine. The arrest was made after officers watched a transaction between Matthews and a customer.

On June 5, 2011, Matthews shot at three men who were walking in the 1500 block of Elmtree in Baltimore. One man was wounded in his right foot and returned fire, hitting an unoccupied truck parked nearby.

Matthews was arrested on June 9, 2011. Matthews admitted to dealing drugs in Curtis Bay since early 2009.

Thirty six SSB members and associates have pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy, including Andre Ricardo Roach, a/k/a “Squeaky,” “Redrum,” and “Rum,” age 35, of Prince George’s County, Maryland, its founder and leader of the gang, which operated from Western Maryland to the lower Eastern Shore. Roach was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

United States Attorney Rosenstein praised the FBI, Maryland State Police, ATF, Baltimore City Police Department, and the State’s Attorney’s Office of Baltimore City for their investigation of this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case. Mr. Rosenstein also recognized the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and the Drug Enforcement Administration for their assistance in the investigation.

Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrea L. Smith and A. David Copperthite, who prosecuted this case.

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