Five members of the Mad Stone Bloods (MSB) gang were sentenced this week in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke for their roles in a criminal conspiracy that involved the smuggling of drugs and other contraband into Virginia prisons, and the facilitation of the sale of drugs outside the prisons, with the help of complicit corrections officers.

Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Thomas T. Cullen for the Western District of Virginia made the announcement.

“Gangs that operate out of our prison systems not only bring drugs and violence into prison facilities – they also breed drug-fueled violence in our communities,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Cronan. “The Criminal Division will continue to work together with local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to ensure that these career criminals and those who conspire with them are brought to justice.”

“Our office will continue to work with our state and local partners to target gang members who engage in violence, drug trafficking, and other illegal activities,” said U.S. Attorney Cullen.

On May 1, Terrance Nathaniel Brown, aka War, 29, was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison on a drug conspiracy conviction. Clifford Alexander Jennings, aka Big Cliff, 48, of Salem, Virginia, was sentenced to serve 12 years in prison on narcotics conspiracy offenses. Ronnie Monroe Nicholas Jr., aka RG, 37, of Crewe, Virginia, was sentenced to serve 12 years in prison on a racketeering conspiracy conviction. Michael Jamal Jones, aka M. Stone, 30, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced to serve 41 months in prison on a drug conspiracy conviction. Jermaine Shiquill Epps, aka Money, 28, of Madison Heights, Virginia, was sentenced to serve 24 months in prison on a drug conspiracy conviction.

According to admissions made in connection with the guilty pleas of Nicolas and Epps, and the evidence presented at the trials of Brown, Jennings, and Jones, the MSB gang operates in Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas and Maryland, and engages in activities involving murder, narcotics trafficking, wire fraud and mail fraud both in and outside of prisons. The gang’s national leaders are based in New York and MSB leaders in Virginia report to those New York leaders.

According to admissions made in connection with the guilty pleas of Nicolas and Epps, and the evidence presented at the trials of Brown, Jennings, and Jones, the Mad Stone Bloods conspired to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine, marijuana and heroin. In addition, gang members conspired with Virginia Department of Corrections employees, including correctional officers and an inmate counselor, to smuggle controlled substances, cellular phones and accessories and other contraband into various Virginia Correctional facilities to aid incarcerated MSB members.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Richmond and Norfolk Divisions, the Virginia State Police, the Virginia Department of Corrections, the Norfolk Police Department, the Harrisonburg Police Department, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office and the Rockingham County Commonwealth’s Attorney. Trial Attorney Marianne Shelvey of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Grayson A. Hoffman for the Western District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.