South LA gang member pleads guilty in drug distribution case

A South Los Angeles gang member pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal narcotics charge for conspiring to distribute drugs such as crack cocaine and methamphetamine from a local storefront.

Andrew Tate, 54, pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. scheduled sentencing for Dec. 13, when Tate faces between 10 years and life in prison.

Prosecutors said they have secured 10 convictions in the case, in which Tate was the lead defendant of a probe dubbed Operation Hoover Dam, a reference to the gang targeted by investigators.

According to prosecutors, Tate sold drugs from a business known as TNN Market. He and co-defendant Bobby Lorenzo Reed, 58, who owned the H&E Smoke and Snack Shop, would refer clientele to each other between June 2017 and May 2018, as well as supply each other with drugs and direct their employees to take part in narcotics sales and referrals, prosecutors said.

Reed pleaded guilty in June and is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 13.