Trial of gang members to begin in fall

ATLANTA - Trials are scheduled to begin this fall in Atlanta for more than three dozen members of a street gang authorities say has connections from Gainesville to the south metro Atlanta.

The 38 defendants - 30 of them from Gwinnett County - are members of the La Gran Familia gang. Law enforcement officials say their trial will be the largest racketeering trial ever held in the state.

Thirteen other suspects in the investigation remain at large. They and those in custody were indicted by a federal grand jury last December.

Authorities say the gang is part of an organization that is financed by robberies, drug dealing, and thefts, and that its territoriy stretches from Hall County to Clayton County.