A member of a deadly street gang will spend nearly two decades in prison.
Teddy Asefa, 37, of Columbus, was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to narcotics trafficking and wire fraud charges, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio. Asefa also scammed the government of at least $16,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Aid.
According to the attorney’s office, Asefa was a member of the leadership of the Third World Mob (3WM) street gang, which was responsible for trafficking more than 1,000 kilograms (more than one ton) of marijuana over seven years. Between 2015 and October 2022, the group made over $94 million in smuggling profits.
Gang members utilized rented moving trucks and cars to transport marijuana from Georgia, California, and other places to Ohio, where it was stored in “stash houses” that were frequently rented, leased, or owned by coconspirators. According to the attorney’s office, in one incident in August 2019, gang members stayed at a property on Phlox Avenue in Blacklick with luggage containing around $940,000.
According to court records, the gang maintained control of the drug trade by intimidation and violence. Several deaths have also been linked to 3WM, including the murder of a 3WM member at a house on Reeb Avenue; the attorney’s office stated that several members who were present that night have since died in the intervening months.
Asefa is the latest of a few 3WM members to be sentenced to federal prison, with all receiving at least 15 years.
In July, co-defendant Abubakarr Savage was found guilty and sentenced to more than 15 years in jail. Menelik Solomon, a fellow Third World Mob member, pled guilty in November 2023 and received a sentence of more than 15 years.
In addition, Klegewerges Abate of Columbus was sentenced to serve more than 25 years after security video released at his trial showed him shooting a guy at a restaurant in Columbus, and the jury heard testimony of other acts of violence, including shootings and pistol-whipping.
While Ohio legalized recreational cannabis in 2023 and recently began sales, it remains illegal at the federal level, where the couple was punished. The amount detectives discovered them holding also far surpasses the lawful possession limit established by state law.