The U.S. attorney says they shot at people whom they believed had been communicating with law enforcement about the gang’s drug sales.

TAMPA – A federal jury has found two members of a Tampa gang guilty of a shooting and drug-related crimes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said.

Leon Williams, 30, and Reginald Jones, Jr., 25, both of Tampa, were found guilty of conspiring to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine, and marijuana, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to that conspiracy. Each faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not been set.

According to evidence presented during the two-week trial, Williams and Jones are members of the Bird Gang, a violent street-level drug trafficking organization that has operated in Tampa Park for years and is responsible for multiple homicides and shootings. The Bird Gang principally sold drugs at two locations, the Tampa Park housing complex and a nearby boarding house known as the “Blue House,” which the Bird Gang had essentially taken over. On May 29, 2018, in the middle of the afternoon, Williams and Jones shot at people whom they believed had been communicating with law enforcement about the Bird Gang’s drug sales at the Blue House.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Tampa Police Department, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It was part of a year-long effort to dismantle the Bird Gang. So far, the investigation has resulted in charges against 30 people.

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