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THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, February 9, 2024 Page 7 Kingpin of ‘Tiny Rascals’ gets 40 years in prison for drug trafficking and gun charges Feds: One of the most violent street gangs in the U.S. had a number of Malden and Everett residents; Armani ‘Shotz’ ‘Gustavo’ Minier-Tejada, of Salem, is 18th defendant to be sentenced in 3-year federal investigation By Noah Simon-Contreras O ne night in July 2020, shortly the COVID-19 pandemic had exploded worldwide like a nuclear missile, some uninformed punks in Cambridge – possibly with a death wish – must have thought it would be clever to livestream a message to the world that two of the most dangerous members of the Tiny Rascals Gangsters (TRG) street gang were also informants to law enforcement. Within less than an hour, Armani Minier-Tejada, then just 20 years old, and Jaiir Coleman, 20, of Malden, arrived outside a Harvard Street, Cambridge, housing project, where they discovered where the livestream had originated. The pair then unleashed hell into an estimated crowd of about 30 people, firing off 3040 rounds each from guns that had been converted to automatic weapons. Essentially, their firearms had become handheld machine guns, enabled by “selector switches.” Miraculously, inexplicably, what the shooters had intended to be a bloody massacre never materialized. No one was killed or even injured, aside from a few bumps and bruises incurred while scrambling in a mad dash to safety. That was just one of a series of at least seven violent shootings in which Minier-Tejada, a/k/a “Shotz” and “Gustavo,” and Coleman, a/k/a/ “JC” and “Chino,” participated in over a span of two and a half years from 2019 to 2021 as active members of what the FBI and federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) call one of the largest and most violent criminal street gangs in the country. Minier-Tejada was sentenced on Monday to 40 years in federal prison and five years of supervised release for leading a largescale drug trafficking conspiracy across the North Shore and into Maine. The TRG leader was convicted of participating in six shootings as well as acquiring over 40 firearms and multiple “selector switches” for himself and fellow gang members. The defendant was also held accountable for his role in a seventh shooting that resulted in a murder. In June 2023, Minier-Tejada was convicted by a federal jury of one count of conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and to possess with intent to distribtwo firearms – including a machine gun – and together fired at least 30 rounds into a large crowd of people gathered in the parking lot. At sentencing, Minier-TejaCHARGES| SEE PAGE 16 RON’S OIL Call For PRICE Pictured from left to right: Tiny Rascals Gangsters leaders Jaiir “Chino” Coleman and Armani “Shotz” “Gustavo” Minier-Tejada fire off rounds at an unknown location with converted machine pistols. (Courtesy/U.S. Dept. of Justice/Boston office) ute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine, cocaine and other controlled substances; one count of conspiracy to use and carry a firearm during and in relation to, and possess a firearm in furtherance of, a drug trafficking crime; and one count of use and carrying, brandishing and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of, a drug trafficking crime. Minier-Tejada was a member and leader of a street gang known as the Tiny Rascal Gangsters, one of the largest and most violent criminal street gangs in the country, which operates on a decentralized structure via local groups or “sets.” TRG is involved in street-level distribution of powdered cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine, and members are known for their involvement in gun violence. In a release from the U.S. Department of Justice, it related, “Minier-Tejada and his co-conspirators, including members of the Lynn set of TRG, participated in a long-running conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess large quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine in Boston, the North Shore and the Bangor, Maine area. “Minier-Tejada served as the supplier for multiple large-scale drug dealers in Maine and, in total, he and his co-conspirators were responsible for trafficking more than 10 kilograms MALDEN CONVICTS: In an undated photo, Malden residents, from top, Phillips “Phon C” Charles –already serving a lengthy jail term – and Jaiir “JC” “Chino” Coleman show off plenty of “Benjamins” in a car. Coleman was scheduled to be sentenced in federal court in Boston yesterday (February 8) for his role in the three-year drugs and guns operation by his gang. (Courtesy/ U.S. Dept. of Justice/Boston office) each of fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine from Massachusetts into Maine. “Minier-Tejada and his co-conspirators produced numerous videos and images in which they were depicted brandishing and holding firearms, including multiple machine guns – that is, pistols equipped with ‘selector switches’ rendering them capable of fully automatic fire. Additionally, the drug conspiracy of which Minier-Tejada was a leader acquired over 40 firearms and multiple ‘selector switches’ for use by TRG members during the drug trafficking conspiracy. ‘Selector switches’ are aftermarket parts that convert a semi-automatic firearm into a machine gun, capable of fully automatic fire.” At sentencing, according to the DOJ release, the government established that in 2019 and 2020 Minier-Tejada and co-conspirators, including TRG gang members Marcus Carlisle, a/k/a “Reckless,” and Jaiir Coleman, a/k/a “JC,” committed six shootings in Boston and surrounding communities in furtherance of the drug conspiracy. At trial, the government introduced evidence concerning one of the shootings, taking place in Cambridge in July 2020, which was in response to a video being livestreamed from a parking lot accusing Minier-Tejada and Coleman of cooperating with law enforcement. 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