Georgia – Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said that the major gang network in Barrow County has been dismantled. This is one of the biggest successes for Georgia’s Gang Prosecution Unit since it was established. After years of concerted investigations into violence, drug trafficking, contraband activities, and getting children to join the gang, sixteen members of the 1-8 Trey Gangster Bloods were convicted.
Jamar Ramsay, the statewide head of the gang, was at the center of the case. He is already serving a life term for murder. Prosecutors alleged that even from inside Hays State Prison, Ramsay ran criminal operations that spread across Georgia and even into California.
Investigators found conversations in which he told members to focus their recruiting on youngsters, talked about drug distribution inside the prison, and ordered attacks. Officials also said that Ramsay relied heavily on illegal cell phones to plan the gang’s activities across several counties.
The acts that led to the convictions happened between 2019 and 2022 in Barrow and a long list of other Georgia counties. All of the defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to break the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Some of them also faced further accusations. Brantavious Sims was one of the most serious instances. He was found guilty of murder for killing Lane Bullard in Barrow County in April 2022. After a 20-day trial that ended on November 24, 2025, both Sims and Ramsay were found guilty on all counts.
Carr stressed that shutting down the organization needed collaboration from several groups, such as the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia Department of Corrections.
“By working with our partners at GDC and GBI, we have successfully shut down a violent gang that was operating both inside and outside our prisons – ordering hits on its rivals, trafficking fentanyl in our neighborhoods, and recruiting our children into a life of violent crime,” said Attorney General Chris Carr.
“This is exactly why we created Georgia’s first statewide Gang Prosecution Unit, and it’s why we have to be able to jam contraband cell phones in prisons and jails. We’re grateful for the support of Governor Kemp, and we’ll continue fighting each day to keep Georgians safe.”
Governor Brian Kemp praised the combined effort and recalled that the state originally announced the group’s indictment three years ago. He noted that the final convictions show what can happen when there is a strong prosecution and a strong relationship.
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The investigators gave a broad list of racketeering crimes that the defendants were involved in, including assault, arson, fentanyl trafficking, and coordinated gatherings to attract kids. Some members used social media to promote events that were meant to attract kids, while others smuggled narcotics and guns across county borders.
There were a lot of different sentences. Sims got life in prison without the chance of parole, plus 25 years. Ramsay got an extra 60 years. Depending on how involved they were, other offenders got a mix of prison term and rigorous probation. One last suspect, who is a national-level gang commander, is still being under investigation.
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The Gang Prosecution Unit, which started in 2022 with help from the governor and state legislature, has now gotten more than 120 convictions in Georgia.
