Pittsburgh man pleads guilty to heroin-dealing in Greenway Boy Killas street gang case

A Pittsburgh man pleaded guilty to his role in a heroin ring with ties to the Greenway Boy Killas street gang in Pittsburgh’s West End, federal prosecutors said

Rashem Littleberry, 29, admitted to working with others to obtain and sell heroin from November 2017 through last June.

He was among 28 suspects nabbed last summer in a far-reaching wiretap probe targeting the gang, also known as the GBK, and drug trafficking in an area the FBI referred to as the “Greenway Projects.”

A federal grand jury accused the alleged gang members and their informants of conspiring to sell large amounts of crack cocaine, powdered cocaine and heroin.

Littleberry is at least the eighth person to plead guilty in the broader drug ring case since the indictments issued last year.

Bryan Smith, 24, of Pittsburgh was the first to do so in mid-December. Last week, Smith was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in dealing crack cocaine.

In February, Lawrence Morrison, 36, of Pittsburgh pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

Joelle Hollis, 31, a North Carolina woman who used to live in Pittsburgh, pleaded guilty last month to a cocaine ring charge. Prosecutors said Hollis also shared sensitive law enforcement information obtained from a former Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office clerk, Erika Romanowski, 41, of Pittsburgh.

Romanowski was sentenced in March to a day in prison, six months of home detention, and 100 hours of community service for leaking secret information about the investigation.

Mardeja Chapple, 24, and Brett Rodgers, 32, both of Pittsburgh, and Jewell Hall, 32, of Wilkinsburg all pleaded guilty to crack cocaine charges at separate hearings in March. Sentencing hearings are pending.

U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab scheduled Littleberry’s sentencing for Oct. 9. He faces a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison or a fine up to $1 million.

Assistant U.S. attorneys Tonya Sulia Goodman and Yvonne M. Saadi prosecuted the case with help from the FBI, federal Drug Enforcement Agency, the state Attorney General’s Office and local police.

Police assisted from Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Robinson, Stowe Township, Wilkinsburg and McKees Rocks.

The investigation was funded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, which provides money for federal and state agencies to work together on cases involving major drug trafficking and criminal enterprises.

RELATED: 28 face charges after FBI wiretap probe of Greenway Boy Killas street gang