Leader of Southwest Baltimore “NFL” Gang Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison for Participating in a Racketeering Conspiracy, Including Murder and a Drug Distribution Conspiracy

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin sentenced NFL gang leader Gregory Butler, a/k/a “Gotti,” “Sags,” and “Little Dick,” age 31, of Baltimore, Maryland, yesterday to 30 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise related to his activities in the NFL gang, which operated in the Edmondson Village area in Southwest Baltimore.  

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington Division Office; Secretary Carolyn J. Scruggs of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, from 2016 to March 2020, Butler was a leader of the NFL enterprise and participated in its illegal activities with other members, including the NFL drug trafficking organization (“DTO”).  The term “NFL” stands for Normandy, Franklin, and Loudon, three adjacent streets that run through the Edmondson Village in Baltimore.  Members of NFL have social and familial ties to the Edmondson Village neighborhood in southwest Baltimore. 

During the conspiracy, NFL members distributed large quantities of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine to drug customers and re-distributors from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.  Butler admitted that he obtained narcotics from multiple sources of supply and stored the narcotics in stash houses that he controlled.  Over the course of the charged conspiracy, Butler and his co-conspirators distributed over one kilogram of heroin and more than 280 grams of crack cocaine and more than 400 grams of fentanyl.

Butler admitted that the NFL enterprise sold heroin and fentanyl to multiple drug customers who subsequently overdosed and died.  Butler agreed that these fatal overdoses were reasonably foreseeable to him, in light of his direct oversight of the enterprise’s drug trafficking activities.  For example, on about August 16, 2016, Butler coordinated the sale of heroin to customer in Rockville, Maryland, who, later that day, used the heroin and died.  In addition, Butler paid members and associates of the NFL enterprise to commit multiple murders on behalf of the enterprise and at least one of those murders was carried out by members of the NFL gang.

More than 30 defendants in this and related cases have pleaded guilty.  Including Butler, 29 of the defendants have been sentenced to between 30 years and time served. 

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (“PSN”), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, DEA, DPSCS, the Montgomery County Police Department, and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation and thanked the Frederick County, Maryland Sheriff’s Office and the Frederick County, Virginia Sheriff’s Office for their assistance.   Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys John W. Sippel, Jr., James T. Wallner and Robert I. Goldaris who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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