An Athens man was sentenced to nearly two decades in prison in connection with a deadly gang shootout in 2022 that left his teenage passenger dead, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced Monday.
Jeffery Rice, 27, a confirmed member of the Red Tape Gang, was driving with fellow gang member Alijah Nelson in Athens on Oct. 21 when the pair ambushed a rival gang member, who fatally shot Nelson in self-defense, the AG’s office said in a news release. Rice pleaded guilty last week to voluntary manslaughter and other charges in the 19-year-old’s death and was sentenced to 18 years in prison and 12 years on “strict probation,” officials stated.
“This conviction is yet another step in our ongoing efforts to dismantle the growing gang networks that continue to incite violence in our communities,” Carr said in a statement.
According to the AG’s office, Red Tape is a local hybrid criminal street gang with ties to the Rollin’ 20s and Sex Money Murder, a dangerous subset of the national bloods gang. They are some of the more than 1,500 suspected gang networks the AG’s office has identified across the state, according to a survey conducted by the Georgia Gang Investigators Association in 2018.
State officials continue to make targeting gangs a top priority amid a rise in member recruitment and organized criminal activity. A recently created state gang prosecution unit and a new state law has resulted in tougher gang recruitment penalties for the roughly 71,000 active members in Georgia.
Officials said Rice and Nelson were in a Citgo gas station parking lot on Gaines School Road that day when Rice spotted a rival gang member. They both got out with their guns drawn, ready to open fire. Nelson immediately did, while Rice got one shot off before his gun unexpectedly jammed, according to the AG’s office.
The rival member, who was not publicly identified, returned fire after being shot in the abdomen several times. Officials said he killed Nelson in self-defense.
Rice was arrested a week later and indicted in January by the state gang prosecution unit, which has worked with Athens-Clarke County police to indict 15 people, including seven suspected members of the Red Tape Gang, over the past year. Those cases involved fatal shootings, assault and robbery, the AG’s office said.
On Aug. 14, Rice was convicted on one count each of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, first-degree criminal damage to property, and driving with a suspended license. He also pleaded guilty to four counts of violation of the street gang terrorism and prevention act.
“We have been working with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department since the very beginning, and our strong partnership has already resulted in gang members behind bars and even more defendants still facing serious charges,” Carr added. “All Georgians deserve to be safe, and we will never stop fighting to rid our streets of this dangerous and criminal activity.”
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