Feds charge 2 more members of 'Brightmore gang'

Two more members of a northwest Detroit street gang have been charged in federal court with racketeering, kidnapping and trafficking crack cocaine, officials said Thursday.

George Eubanks, 30, and James Bowens, 37, both of Detroit, were indicted Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice, officials said in a statement.

The announcement comes about eight months after federal officials indicted five members of the so-called "Young andScantless" gang, including its alleged leader Edward Tavorn, 31. They were also charged with several other crimes, such as murder, robbery, home invasion, arson and narcotics distribution. 

Prosecutors said members of the YNS gang terrorized the Brightmoor neighborhood in northwest Detroit, killing at least three people while trying to consolidate power and dominate the area's drug trade.

Gang members bragged on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube about their violent activities, posting videos featuring handguns and AK-47-style rifles, according to officials.

In the latest indictment, federal prosecutors accuse Eubanks and Bowens of selling drugs in West Virginia on Tavorn’s behalf while he was incarcerated in August 2017.

As part of the enterprise, Bowens kidnapped and fired a gun at a person to force the victim to rent a vehicle for the gang to use to transport drugs to West Virginia, prosecutors said.

They also charged Eubanks and Bowens with possessing 550 grams of cocaine with the intent to distribute it.