Last Major Player From Pottstown Gang Roundup Sentenced
POTTSTOWN, PA (CBS) -- The last of the major players has been sentenced from a 2015 round-up in Pottstown following a spike in violence that law enforcement blamed on rival gangs.
The 10 major players from what was called "Operation War Ready" have been sentenced to a total of more than 110 years in prison.
The last, 23-year-old Markel Harper, who pleaded guilty to multiple counts of attempted murder stemming from four shootings in Pottstown, will spend 24-51 years in state prison.
Judge Steven O'Neill called the spate of violence in Pottstown "a reign of terror."
Montgomery County Prosecutor Ed McCann says since the increase in violence, the DA's office created a unit focused solely on the borough.
"Pottstown is an important community, it may have been overlooked in the past, but it's not going to be overlooked now," he said.
"Operation War Ready" resulted in more than 30 arrests of members of rival gangs "Brotha from Anotha" and the "Straight Cash Money Gang."
