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The father of a central Arkansas rap artist was arraigned Friday on charges similar to the ones his son recently faced.
Freddie Gladney Jr., 55, of Oneida, pleaded innocent Friday morning to drug conspiracy and weapons charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerome Kearney. Gladney, the father of “Bankroll Freddie” Gladney III, is one of 79 people named across five indictments that resulted from multiple investigations into gang violence and drug trafficking authorities said was largely perpetrated by two rival gangs.
He was one of a number of people authorities were searching for since the indictments were unsealed Nov. 9 of last year. He was taken into custody in Crittenden County on Wednesday night. The details of his arrest were not known.
Gladney is charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, cocaine base and marijuana, which carries a maximum prison term of 40 years; possession of a firearm by a felon, which carries a maximum prison term of 10 years; and use of a communications facility in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, which carries a maximum prison term of four years.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Peters told Kearney the U.S. would seek to detain Gladney in federal custody until his case is resolved.
“I think Judge [Joe] Volpe is requesting to handle all of the bond hearings in this case,” Kearney told Gladney’s attorney, Robert Golden of Little Rock. “You can request a bond hearing, but it will be with Judge Volpe.”
Gladney, his son and 33 others were named in one indictment that came out of an FBI investigation into the street gang EBK or Every Body Killas. A separate FBI investigation into a rival gang, known as Lodi Murder Mobb, resulted in a second indictment naming an additional 26 people, three of whom are named in both indictments. All but five people named in the two indictments have been located and arraigned. The FBI is still seeking Joe Morgan III, 42, of Lula, Miss.; Brandon Kingsley Robinson, 34, of Marianna; Milka “Ace Boogie” Bell, 27, of Benton; Eric Lozano, 28, of Dallas, Tex.; and Nenad “Nash” Steljic, 34, of Serbia.
In the two indictments, 15 named in the EBK indictment and nine named in the Lodi Murder Mobb indictment have been released on bond with conditions to await trial. All but five fugitives of the remaining defendants are in custody.
A third investigation headed up by the Drug Enforcement Administration in cooperation with the North Little Rock Police Department identified street-level methamphetamine and fentanyl dealers in central Arkansas who were connected to the same California supply source. Authorities said people in Arkansas imported kilogram quantities of methamphetamine and thousands of press fentanyl pills that were then distributed in and around Little Rock, Pine Bluff and Houston, Tex. A total of 18 people were named in that indictment, and 15 of those defendants have been arraigned.
Of the 15 DEA defendants who have been located and arraigned, 13 were freed on bond, and two remain in custody. Three are still at large.
Federal authorities are still seeking the whereabouts of Bruce McArthur Smith, 51, of Hesperia, Calif.; Iyare Ogbeiwi, 39, of Los Angeles, Calif.; and Kevin Langel, 51, of Pine Bluff.
Separately indicted as part of the investigation were Quincy Martez Chambers, 31, D’eandreian “Fathead” Meadows, 22, both of Pine Bluff and Joseph Riggins Jr., 32, of Little Rock. All three were ordered held in pretrial detention by a magistrate judge.
