Delco Gang Members Admit To Drug, Gun Crimes: Feds

CHESTER, PA — Five members of a Delaware County drug trafficking gang pleaded guilty to narcotics and firearm crimes in federal court recently.

United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said Issac Barrett, 35; Kaleaf Gilbert, 30; Darnell Bell, 31; Terrance Womack, 35; and Jamar Bright, 33; all of Chester, pleaded guilty this week to charges including conspiracy to distribute crack, cocaine and heroin, as well as related narcotics and gun offenses.

In October 2019, 24 people were arrested pursuant to parallel Indictments of rival drug gangs that operated for years in and around the city of Chester: the "William Penn" drug trafficking group, which controlled the territory surrounding the Chester Housing Authority’s William Penn Homes, and their rivals the "3rd Bone" drug trafficking group, which held power in the area of 3rd and Lamokin Streets.

The pleas bring a close to a years-long investigation and prosecution.

Authorities said the five will be sentenced in August 2022.

Barrett and Gilbert will face at least 15 years in prison due to the statutory mandatory minimum penalties on their drug and gun convictions, according to authorities.

As established during their plea hearings, Barrett served as the group’s source of supply, ensuring that his co-conspirators had a constant stock of crack, heroin, and cocaine, which his co-conspirators would then sell to their customer base of drug addicts.

Gilbert managed a shared "trap phone," or drug phone, which the group, Bell and Womack, used to provide their joint customer base with around-the-clock access to crack and other controlled substances.

Authorities said the gang also used violence and threats of violence as part of their drug trafficking operation.

In February 2019, a dispute between the William Penn and 3rd Bone gangs came to a head in an exchange of gunfire between Barrett and Gilbert and three 3rd Bone members in the parking lot of a downtown Chester bar, which resulted in the shooting and hospitalization of one of the rival gang members, according to authorities.

Subsequent wiretapped calls with Gilbert's phone revealed Gilbert attempting to get rid of the gun used in the shooting by throwing it on the roof of an adjacent building, trying to hide his bullet-ridden car, and cavalierly talking about the shooting and potential paralysis of the 3rd Bone member, authorities said.

Texts recovered from Barrett’s phone showed him placing a $15,000 bounty on a rival gang member whom he suspected was responsible for the shooting, according to authorities.