Prosecutors say he founded a Macon street gang. He gets 15 years prison for a gun charge
The man who prosecutors say founded the Macon street gang “Mafia” was sentenced Thursday to 15 years for possessing a gang as a convicted felon.
Alphonzo Clyde admitted he illegally possessed a gun even as a convicted felon on April 10 and was sentenced Thursday afternoon by Judge Marc Treadwell on that charge. But before Treadwell could issue a sentence, Clyde’s attorney, Melvin Raines III, attempted to argue there were “red flags” in the investigation Clyde that could warrant a withdrawal of his guilty plea.
Prosecutors said deputies from Bibb and Jones counties took Clyde into custody on Oct. 8, 2023 for violating probation. During their arrest, they found a digital scale with a white, powdery substance in his car. They also smelled marijuana from his vehicle and found a 9 mm handgun inside his glovebox.
Raines said in court Thursday that the person who issued Clyde’s warrant was an investigator who, according to rumors, had misled a grand jury to prosecute someone. Raines said that meant anything the investigator has done is questionable. Raines also said other members of the street gang signed a letter claiming responsibility for the drugs and gun that Clyde had and the letter wasn’t fully investigated.
But prosecutor Joy Odom brought an FBI agent into the case to explain that the investigator Raines mentioned was not a crucial part in the investigation. As for the letter, the special agent believed the gang member who claimed responsibility was a “foot soldier” and that is what they do to deter the investigation from the higher-ranking members.
The judge wouldn’t let Clyde take back his guilty plea, saying the rumor about the investigator wasn’t significant enough to the case and there wasn’t enough evidence that someone else owned the gun.
Prosecutor: Mafia ‘metastasized like cancer’
When Treadwell revealed that sentencing guidelines would recommend a 15-year prison term, Raines said that number was higher than what Clyde was expecting. According to court documents, he thought he was going to be get three to five years.
Odom said Clyde’s higher sentence was because he smuggled contraband into his cell and hadn’t taken full reponsibility for it, though Raines said he had been punished. Odom also said the letter signed by another street gang member could’ve obstructed justice.
Raines also said he had grown up in the same neighborhood as Clyde and prosecutors were “embellishing” his role in the Mafia gang. He was a father to seven children who looked up to him, which Raines argued doesn’t suggest he could lead the gang.
But Odom argued that, even though he had seven children, he had never gotten a job. Instead, he had a severe criminal history and the gang he created, responsible for death and the distribution of narcotics, “metastasized like cancer,” said Odom.
“Clyde is a notorious criminal whose career of mayhem has spanned nearly thirty years,” said Bibb County Sheriff David Davis. “This investigation and prosecution result is a testament to the importance of local agencies working together with our federal partners. Macon and the entire Middle Georgia community is better off having this gangster off our streets for many years to come.”
