A Harvey man with ties to West Jefferson’s Harvey Hustlers street gang was sentenced Monday (Feb. 29) to 15 years in prison.
Keitrel B. Gumms, 25, pleaded guilty on Jan. 13 to racketeering, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to distribute heroin and marijuana, distribution of marijuana and cruelty to juveniles. Although he pleaded guilty as charged last month, his sentencing hearing was delayed until Monday.
Gumms was sentenced to 15 years in prison for each count except for the cruelty to juveniles offense, for which he received a 10-year sentence. Judge Henry Sullivan of the 24th Judicial District Court ran the sentences concurrently, for a total of 15 years.
Gumms was one of 21 people named in a 30-count indictment prosecutors filed in court last year. Of them, 19 pleaded guilty and the remaining two were convicted of the racketeering-related offenses during their trials. Their sentences ranged from five years to 120 years in prison.
Click here to view the 21 defendants.
The Harvey Hustlers, which traces its roots to the Scotsdale neighborhood in the 1980s, was responsible for trafficking as much as 20 kilograms of cocaine into the West Bank from Texas monthly. The gang also had an enforcement arm called the “Murder Squad,” which used violence to protect its illegal narcotics enterprise.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office collaborated on the cases. The investigation and prosecutions are ongoing in state and federal courts.
Assistant District Attorneys Doug Freese and Seth Shute prosecuted the cases.
