Gangster Disciples members face life after convictions for retaliation murders

An Atlanta man described as a key figure in the Gangster Disciples street gang was convicted in a federal trial recently in connection with the murders of three Athens men who police said were the targets of gang retaliation.

Philmon D. “Dolla Phil” Chambers, 34, was convicted of the Racketeer Influence and Corruption Organizations Act, better known as RICO, along with murder and causing the death of a person with a firearm.

Two co-defendants, Andrew Paige “Drea” Browner, 28, of Athens and Lesley Chappell “Grip” Green, 35, of Stone Mountain were also convicted of RICO. Browner was also convicted of a murder charge.

All three defendants face life in prison, although a sentencing date has not been scheduled.

They were convicted in a U.S. District Court trial held in Macon that began July 31 with jury selection. The trial ended on Aug. 17.

On an earlier date, two other gang members − Robert Maurice “Different” Carlisle, 36, of Lithonia and Shabazz L. “Lil Larry” Guidry, of Decatur − both pleaded guilty to RICO. They also face life in prison.

Previously: Federal authorities indict alleged Gangster Disciples members in 2018 slayings of 3 men in Athens

The trial delved into the Gangster Disciples gang showing some inner turmoil as gang leaders suspected that other gang members had becomes “snitches,” according to a report from the Middle District U.S. Attorney’s Office in Macon.

Chambers held a position of authority in the gang on a national level and this included overseeing the “Enforcement Team,” a collection of gang members that agents said was formed to discipline other gang members by the use of physical violence and even death.

Green was described as a member of this enforcement team, while investigators said Brown was a member of the “Sisters of the Struggle,” a female unit of the Gangster Disciples, according to the report.

The series of homicides began in early December 2018, when gang member Walter James Brown, 31, was shot and killed in Athens at Oak Hill Apartments. The slaying was investigated by Athens-Clarke police and they later identified two men as suspects.

Gang leader Chambers sought retaliation for Brown’s death and he and Browner chose to kill 32-year-old Rodriquez Apollo Rucker because he was related to one of the people they believed killed Brown, according to federal officials.

Agents said Browner lured Rucker to a motel in Athens for sex and she later sent a text to Chambers that Rucker was leaving. Police said Chambers then followed Rucker to his home and shot him to death.

Federal agents said Browner and Chambers then left Athens for Texas because they knew police would be looking for them.

Browner was soon captured in Mt. Enterprise, Texas.

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However, police said Chambers, who was hiding out, became suspicious that someone on the inside of the gang was “snitching” to police. Agents said Chambers identified Derrick Ruff and Joshua Jackson, both 25-year-old Athens residents, as gang members he believed were providing information to police.

A plan apparently emerged on how to get rid of Ruff and Jackson.

The federal report said investigators have obtained text messages and phone call records that show Chambers, Green, Carlisle and Guidry had a plan to lure the two men to a location in Lawrenceville.

According to the plan, Ruff and Jackson were to drive to a storage unit business, break into a storage shed and steal items they subsequently would send to Chambers at his hideout in Killeen, Texas.

However, when the two men drove from Athens to Lawrenceville on Dec. 19, 2018, they were shot to death by their own gang members and their bodies locked in a storage shed, according to the report

Police, using cadaver dogs, located the bodies on March 17, 2019.

Gang communications that the police and federal authorities recovered show the gang had formed a plan to remove the bodies, have them burned, then disposed of in a landfill, according to the report.

“Violent gangs, intimidation and murder have no place in our lawful society and I commend the federal state and local partners who worked so closely to solve this case of exception complexity,” U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary said in a statement released with news of the convictions.

The convictions were also praised in statements by Athens-Clarke Police Chief Jerry Saulters, who was head of criminal investigations division when the crimes occurred, and FBI Agent Robert Gibbs of the Macon office.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Gang members face prison terms connected to deaths of three Athens men