DENVER (KDVR) — Two alleged members of the Crips gang were sentenced in federal court for conspiring to traffic fentanyl and cocaine from Arizona to Colorado after they pleaded guilty under plea agreements.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado said Carlos Sandford-Valdez, who also went by “Charlie Vuitton,” 30, was sentenced to 240 months (20 years) in prison and five years of supervised release. His co-defendant, Kataina Jackson-Keeling, also known as “Tana Ten Birdz,” was sentenced to 120 months (10 years) in prison for his role.
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The charges stem from May 2022 to April 2023, when the pair of alleged Crip gang members, who were also part of a criminal network that called themselves the “bird gang,” sold large amounts of fentanyl and cocaine across the Denver Metro area. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the pair would travel separately to Arizona to obtain fentanyl pills, and then transport them or attempt to transport them to Colorado for distribution.
“This case is a perfect example of how organized criminal networks, like the so-called ‘Bird Gang,’ are fueling the fentanyl crisis in our communities,” said United States Attorney Peter McNeilly in the office’s release. “These defendants trafficked tens of thousands of fentanyl pills into the Denver Metro area. Thanks to the coordinated efforts of federal, state, and local law enforcement, we were able to disrupt their operation, prevent deadly substances from reaching our streets, and prosecute the people who were most responsible.”…