GoodFellas Gang Member Sentenced to Prison for Drive-By Shooting (DOJ)

ATLANTA - Tahj Rankine, a member of the GoodFellas criminal street gang, was sentenced to ten years in prison for his participation in a February 2021 drive-by shooting that injured an innocent bystander.

"Tahj Rankine drove a vehicle while fellow gang members shot out of it, maiming an innocent bystander," said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. "Our Homeland Security Task Force will continue to target gangsters who disregard public safety and drive violence in our community."

"Gang shootings in public places are all too common," said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "The defendant and his gang terrorized customers at a gas station, unleashing more than 30 rounds, endangering innocent victims and even hitting a car containing children. Violent gang activity that imperils innocent lives has no place in our communities. It must be rooted out entirely."

"Drive-by shootings endanger entire communities, not just intended targets," said Marlo Graham, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. "Rankine's actions-driving armed gang members into a public space and enabling gunfire-show a blatant disregard for human life that left an innocent bystander injured. The FBI, alongside our partners on the Homeland Security Task Force, will continue to prioritize dismantling violent gangs like GoodFellas and holding those who fuel this kind of reckless violence accountable."

According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented in court: The GoodFellas is an Atlanta-based gang that primarily recruits members in Atlanta neighborhoods as well as jails and prisons within Georgia. The gang generates money through, among other criminal activities, drug trafficking, robbery, carjacking, fraud, and firearms trafficking. The gang protects its operation, turf, and reputation through violence and threats of violence.

On February 2, 2021, Rankine drove himself and other armed GoodFellas gang members to a gas station in southwest Atlanta. A second vehicle filled with armed GoodFellas members accompanied Rankine's vehicle. After Rankine drove through the gas station parking lot, occupants of the two vehicles discharged dozens of rounds towards the gas station's storefront in an attempt to target members of another gang. An innocent bystander was hit by gunfire and suffered an injury to his foot.

On April 29, 2026, Tahj Rankine, a/k/a Biggz, 27, of Tucker, Georgia, was sentenced to ten years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Rankine was convicted of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence on January 12, 2026, after he pled guilty.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with valuable assistance provided by the Georgia Department of Corrections; Georgia Department of Community Supervision; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Fulton County Sheriff's Office; and the Atlanta Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren E. Renaud and Trial Attorney Sarah J. Rasalam prosecuted the case.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Atlanta comprises agents and officers from ATF, CGIS, DEA, FBI, ICE-HSI, IRS-CI, DOL-OIG, DSS, USMS, USPIS, and USSS with the prosecution being led by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney's Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga