Woman Sentenced for Federal Witness Tampering in Relation to Trial for Gang-Related Murder and Multistate Drug Trafficking Ring

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Springfield woman was sentenced yesterday to 15 months in prison for witness tampering that occurred at the onset of a multi-week federal trial against four individuals relating to a murder, violent gang enterprise, and a drug trafficking conspiracy operating in Virginia, California, and several other states.

According to court documents, Keira Ta, 27, was a member of the Lady Tigers, which was a subset of a violent Northern Virginia Street gang called the Reccless Tigers. Gang members, over a number of years, engaged in a persistent pattern of intimidation and retaliation against anyone who were believed to have cooperated with law enforcement. Gang members labeled those who cooperated with law enforcement as “snitches,” and used social media to convey threats to witnesses and inform other gang-members of their identities. In retaliation, gang members committed assaults, attacked homes with Molotov cocktails, and even murdered an individual who testified against a member of the Reccless Tigers in a Commonwealth of Virginia case.

According to court records, criminal racketeering and other charges against numerous members of the Reckless Tigers gang led to a trial that commenced on April 11, 2022. The allegations in the trial included, among other things, that certain defendants were involved in the murder of a former Commonwealth witness as described above. On the evening of April 11, 2022, after speaking through a jail call to a leader of the gang who was a defendant in the trial, Ta posted to social media revealing the names of the government’s upcoming witnesses, labeling them each a “snitch” and instructing associates to “come watch the snitches snitching.” Thereafter, the trial was delayed and certain witnesses in the trial later refused to identify the leader of the gang in open court because of the defendant’s threat.  On May 6, 2022, a jury convicted four defendants affiliated with the Reccless Tigers of numerous charges relating to a murder, a violent gang enterprise, and a drug trafficking conspiracy.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Heather D. Call and Ryan B. Bredemeier prosecuted the case.

The investigation into the Reccless Tigers criminal organization is a multi-jurisdictional OCDETF case involving the FBI Washington Field Office, ATF, HSI, IRS, U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Marshals Service, Fairfax County Police Department, Prince William County Police Department, City of Richmond Police, Montgomery County (MD) Police, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, Falls Church Police, City of Alexandria Sheriff’s Office, Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, Fairfax County Fire Marshal, Prince William County Fire Marshal, Stafford County Fire Marshal, City of Monterey Park (CA) Police, Garden Grove (CA) Police, Anaheim (CA) Police; Trinity County (CA) Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol, DEA San Francisco Division – Reading Office, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, California Department of Food & Agriculture, California Department of Consumer Affairs Bureau of Cannabis Control, U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of California – Sacramento Office, U.S. Attorney’s Office Central District of California – Santa Ana and Riverside Offices, and the FBI’s Field Offices in Richmond, Los Angeles, and Sacramento.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:22-cr-100.