Last Member of Paper Gang Family Drug Ring Sentenced to 18 Years

ATLANTA — Antonio Pierre Ashmeade, the final one of 13 defendants convicted in a federal drug trafficking case, was sentenced to 18 years in prison on May 6, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

The sentences cover the full roster of the “Paper Gang Family” ring and its accomplices. The group distributed cocaine and marijuana in the Atlanta area until the Homeland Security Task Force dismantled the operation. Ashmeade’s term matches the longest handed down in the prosecutions; the other 12 defendants received sentences ranging from several years to more than two decades.

Federal prosecutors presented evidence that the network moved multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine and marijuana across Georgia, with ties to street-level distribution that reached local users and smaller dealers.

The sentencing closes the judicial phase of the case. All 13 defendants have now received final prison terms, fines and supervised release requirements that take effect immediately upon transfer to Bureau of Prisons custody. No appeals altering the sentences are noted in the Department of Justice announcement.

Downstream, the convictions trigger asset forfeiture proceedings already underway, returning seized cash, vehicles and property to federal control. The Homeland Security Task Force will reallocate investigative resources previously dedicated to this ring toward active targets.

Federal probation officers must now supervise the released defendants for years following their prison terms, creating new caseload demands in the Northern District of Georgia. The case also supplies sentencing data that prosecutors and defense attorneys will cite in future Atlanta-area drug conspiracy matters.

This prosecution forms the final chapter of a multi-year HSTF effort that began with coordinated arrests several years earlier. The Department of Justice has used similar task-force models in Atlanta to target dozens of trafficking organizations since 2020, resulting in hundreds of convictions and the removal of tons of narcotics from circulation.

The Paper Gang Family case is one of the larger street-level rings fully adjudicated under that initiative.