Mabelvale man offers plea in gang inquiry

A Pulaski County man indicted after an FBI investigation into drug trafficking and gang violence in Central Arkansas pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to one count of conspiracy to distribute between 10 and 20 kilograms of marijuana.

Jonathon Green, 33, of Mabelvale, was indicted in November 2022 along with 34 others, including rap artist Freddie “Bankroll Freddie” Gladney III, 29, of Jonesboro, and his father, Freddie Gladney Jr., 56, of Oneida, all of whom are associated with the street gang known as EBK, or “Every Body Killas.” A tandem indictment from the same investigation named 26 people believed to be associated with a rival street gang known as Lodi Murder Mobb.

Green, who was indicted on charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and use of a communications facility in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy count before U.S. District Judge James M. Moody Jr. and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and two years to life on supervised release when he returns for sentencing later this year.

According to Green’s plea agreement, on July 15, 2021, Green was intercepted on a wiretap that had been placed on co-defendant Jeremy Green’s cell phone talking about going to a third co-defendant’s home to pick up two pounds of marijuana. Later that same evening, investigators overheard Jonathon Green on a call to Jeremy Green telling him he had arrived at the Little Rock home of the third defendant, identified as Aaron “A-Nick” Nichols.

The following night, the plea agreement said, investigators picked up Jonathon Green talking to Jeremy Green again about going to a fourth defendant’s home — identified as Donald “Big D” Teague — to drop off a quantity of marijuana.

The plea agreement also outlined an intercepted call between the two men the following October discussing the pickup of between 8 and 10 pounds of marijuana from Nichols.

On Oct. 8, 2021, the document said, a week after the last phone call intercept, police searched Nichols’ home and recovered money, marijuana and multiple firearms.

Green, who is free on bond, appeared in court with his attorney, Ronald Davis Jr. of Little Rock. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Peters, who is prosecuting the case along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Fields, appeared in court on behalf of the government.

To date, 18 of the 35 defendants have entered pleas and are awaiting sentencing in the case, 16 are currently scheduled to go trial on April 9, and one defendant, Joe Morgan III, 43, of Lula, Miss., is still at large according to court documents.