Mariah Carey, Falcons’ Calvin Ridley among victims in recent Atlanta-area home burglaries

A district attorney in Atlanta has unveiled a sprawling indictment accusing members of what she described as a violent local gang of robbing area mansions belonging to famous celebrities, entertainers, and athletes.

Singer Mariah Carey, Marlo Hampton of ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta,’ Atlanta United player Brad Guzan and the Atlanta Falcons‘ Calvin Ridley all had their homes broken into, the indictment says. 

The 220-count indictment was filed August 22 and charges 26 people, most of whom are accused of violating Georgia’s anti-gang and racketeering laws.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said the crimes alleged in the indictment — carjacking, kidnapping, armed robbery, shootings, home invasions — were committed by members of the Drug Rich gang, which she said began to emerge in 2016 in a neighboring county and is a hybrid Crips-Bloods gang.

In addition to the celebrity targets, social media influencers were also victimized in home invasions and burglaries, Willis said. The indictment focuses on 16 separate incidents since 2018.

‘What they do is target people who show their wealth on social media,’ she said. ‘So I do have a message for the public: Where it is kind of fun to put your things on social media and show off, unfortunately these gangs are becoming more savvy, more sophisticated in the way that they target you.’

But Willis also had a message for the alleged gang members: ‘If you thought Fulton was a good county to bring your crime to, to bring your violence to, you are wrong and you are going suffer consequences and today is the start of some of those consequences.’

Willis said the indictment, filed last week, represented a collaboration between different law enforcement agencies working together. Cracking down on gangs is a priority for Willis, and she said she intends to pursue tough penalties for people involved with violent gang activity.

‘I am not going to negotiate with gang members. I am not going to allow pleas,’ she said. ‘We are going to find you, we are going to convict you and we’re going to send you to the prison for the rest of your days, and I’m not apologizing for that.’

Drug Rich gang members check out which affluent homes to raid based on social media posts, according to warrants of 18 arrests out of the 26 individuals involved. 

The robberies initially started in 2017 and prosecutors said six homes this year were targeted by gang members, including Carey’s Sandy Springs home on June 27 and Hampton’s home on July 1, as well as an Instagram influencer’s residence on March 27. 

Another woman, who was romantically linked to rapper Future, was also the victim of targeted home raids in Fulton County, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

There were 88 charges associated with a 2021 incident where eight gang members allegedly raided a home, pulled a 16-year-old girl out of a shower and held her hostage while threatening to kill her if her mother didn’t hand over expensive belongings, according to WSBTV.

Willis further said that authorities were able to track and arrest 18 out of 26 gang members listed in the indictment due to lyrics from songs that they shared on social media.

The Fulton County District Attorney said the words ‘me and my crew out striking in all black,’ ‘send me the drop, we’ll kick in the house’ and ‘if we steal a car, we gonna take off the tag’ were considered as evidence.

The robbery at Ridley’s home comes five months after the Atlanta Falcons’ wide receiver was handed a season-long suspension by the NFL in March for betting on league games while he was on leave, dealing with mental health issues. 

The alleged bets took place over a five-day period while Ridley was away from the team last November, according to the NFL. The league’s investigation did not find any evidence that the 27-year-old used insider information or that any games were compromised, nor was there any indication that Falcons coaches, staffers or players were aware of Ridley’s gambling. 

Ridley did admit to betting $1,500, but claimed on Twitter that he wasn’t even watching football at the time of the alleged violation. The Florida native announced in October of 2021 that he was stepping away from football to focus on his mental health, and has not been considered in the team’s plans for the 2022 season.

‘I bet 1500 total I don’t have a gambling problem,’ Ridley reacted on Twitter to the news of his season-long suspension. ‘I couldn’t even watch football at that point,’ he wrote in another tweet. 

Earlier this month, fans compared Ridley’s punishment to the 11-game suspension handed to Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, who was accused of sexually assaulting and harassing female massage therapists in the Houston area between 2019 and 2021, when he was a member of the Texans.

‘Calvin Ridley got suspended for an entire season for betting on games. Deshaun Watson got 11 games for breaking the sexual misconduct policy, 20+ cases. That’s not adding up to me. NFL, get it together!,’ an online user’s tweet read.

‘Calvin Ridley got suspended a year for a fanduel parlay. Watched Deshaun Watson get a slap on the wrist for way worse. Now is getting literally robbed,’ another person wrote on Twitter. 

‘Calvin Ridley got 17 game suspension for betting on his own team. Deshaun Watson got 11 game suspension for sexually assaulting over 30 people,’ a different individual shared on social media.

‘Still blows my mind Calvin Ridley got suspended for a year for betting on the NFL and Watson is getting 11 games for his issues,’ an astonished fan reacted.

Watson has specifically been accused of forcing two women to perform oral sex on him, ejaculating on three women, and forcibly kissing another, while 18 women say he touched them with his penis during massages, according to court files reviewed by DailyMail.com.

Although he has now settled 23 of the 24 lawsuits, Watson has denied any wrongdoing, and two Texas grand juries have declined to proceed with charges against him.