30 Sex Money Murder Members Indicted for Murder, Drug Trafficking, Fraud in Georgia

Federal authorities have indicted 30 alleged members and associates of the Sex Money Murder (SMM) gang in Georgia on charges including racketeering conspiracy, murder, drug trafficking, and fraud related to COVID-19 relief programs. The indictment reveals that the SMM gang, a subset of the Bloods, enforced brutal rules with extreme violence, including the murder of a 19-year-old member who sought to leave the gang and the near-fatal stabbing of another member for alleged homosexual activities in jail. The gang trafficked large quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin in the Savannah area and engaged in sophisticated schemes defrauding federal unemployment and COVID-19 relief programs, causing losses exceeding $850,000. Byron Hopkins, one of the accused, is charged with shooting the 19-year-old victim in 2020 after luring him under false pretenses, highlighting the gang's ruthless control mechanisms. The case is a coordinated effort involving multiple federal, state, and local agencies, aiming to dismantle the gang's violent and criminal operations both on the streets and within prisons. If convicted, the defendants face severe penalties ranging from decades in prison to life imprisonment or potentially the death penalty for the most serious offenses.