Columbia Bloods Gang Member Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

A member of the Bloods street gang was sentenced Friday in Columbia to 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit racketeering, U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles said.

United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson Jr. sentenced O’Dell “Teezy” Martin, 27, of Columbia, to 20 years in prison and three years of probation. Martin pleaded guilty to the charge in April.

Evidence presented at the change of plea and sentencing hearings established that Martin joined the Bloods street gang in 1999, when he was only 14 or 15 years old, according to a release. Authorities say after Martin became a member of the gang, he participated in numerous acts of armed drug trafficking, armed robberies and even retaliatory shootings for his and members of the gang’s benefit.

Martin was also held responsible for an aggravated armed robbery that occurred on May 28, 2005, in the Richland Terrace apartment complex at 1212 Metze Road in Columbia.  According to evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, Martin and other Bloods gang members stormed an apartment while armed with a shotgun and an AK-47 rifle.  They demanded that the victims, one of whom was confined to a wheelchair, give up any money and drugs that the victims had in the apartment, the release said.  Before leaving the apartment, the group fired shots that struck two other victims and damaged the wheelchair. 

The Richland County Sheriff’s Department investigated the robbery case. The racketeering case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. attorneys JD Rowell, Mark C. Moore and William Witherspoon of the Columbia office prosecuted the case.