Baltimore resident Rashaud "Shaud" Nesmith, 21, a member of the Cruddy Conniving Crutballs (Triple C) has been sentenced to 40 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release for multiple armed carjackings and robberies throughout the city, and for his role in the violent street gang.
Prosecutors say that Nesmith admitted that in connection with the conspiracy, he participated in a carjacking, two armed robberies, and an attempted armed robbery. During the commission of the crimes, two victims were shot and killed, and one victim was shot and seriously injured.
Specifically, Nesmith participated in a carjacking on April 19, 2019, where a weapon was brandished and the July 2019 robbery of Devon Chavis, when at least one gang member fired a gun. He was also involved in the botched August 2019 attempted robbery of Kendrick Sharpe, who was killed, according to US Attorney Erek Barron.
He was also aware of, but did not participate in, at least five other carjackings, including one where a second victim was killed.
"Rashaud Nesmith’s mayhem is over and he’s now being held responsible for his actions,” Barron stated. “I want to express my appreciation to our law enforcement partners for the tremendous investigation that led to this prosecution. We will hold accountable those who commit violence in our communities, but we also offer a helping hand to assist at-risk individuals to avoid this result.”
According to the plea agreement, the gang benefitted financially from and affected interstate commerce by, selling drugs, murdering drug dealers, taking contract killings, and engaging in street robberies. Nesmith acknowledged that as part of his activities with Triple C, he also distributed controlled substances, including crack cocaine
He also confirmed that Triple C members regularly used social media to identify and locate victims and to share information concerning possible retaliation for violent crimes committed by gang members, Barron said.
During the conspiracy, prosecutors said that the gang members used at least 14 firearms to commit their crimes, often swapping them out to make it more difficult to trace ballistic evidence.
"Rashaud Nesmith participated in murders, non-fatal shootings, carjackings, armed robberies, and more. The victims were innocent, simply going about their lives in the city and attacked without provocation. Now he will spend decades in prison for what he’s done,” ATF Baltimore Special Agent in Charge Toni Crosby said. “By applying the crime gun intelligence model of investigating, ATF and our law enforcement partners will continue to do everything in our power to remove violent offenders from Baltimore's streets.”
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