South End gang member who opened fire on rivals in West Hill, wounding four victims including three bystanders, on Monday received nearly six years in federal prison

South End gang member who opened fire on rivals in West Hill, wounding four victims including three bystanders, on Monday received nearly six years in federal prison.

Nakeem Stratton, 25, of Albany, known as "Little Bay," a member of the notorious Original Gangsta Killas street gang, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in December to a racketeering conspiracy that included the shooting and conspiring to sell more than 50 grams of crack cocaine.

Judge Gary L. Sharpe sentenced Stratton in U.S. District Court in Albany to 57 months in prison.

Stratton, also known as "Bayshawn," received credit for spending 63 months behind bars for shooting at rivals in the Jungle Junkies street gang in August 2006.

That day, Stratton and fellow OGK gang members rode bicycles into their rivals' territory on First Street and "indiscriminately shot at people, wounding four," federal prosecutors in Albany stated in a sentencing memorandum.

Three bystanders were shot, in addition to a member of the Jungle Junkies. None were killed. Stratton was previously sentenced to 5 years in prison for the shooting.

Prosecutors have highlighted Stratton's role in the longstanding war between gangs in the city's "uptown" and "downtown" neighborhoods. OGK is considered downtown, the Jungle Junkies uptown.

Stratton was among 25 members and associates of OGK charged in a sweeping racketeering case in 2009. He is the 12th defendant in the case to be sentenced.

"(Stratton's) actions contributed to the fear felt by the residents of Albany, literally caught in the cross-fire during the ongoing 'tit for tat' shootings between the rival gang members," wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Carlos Moreno, who prosecuted the case. "In addition, his actions also contributed to a desire of rival gang members to retaliate for violence committed upon them."

Stratton was first arrested at age 15 and has at least nine more arrests since that time.

His plea agreement noted that in addition to cocaine, Stratton dealt marijuana for the gang, prosecutors noted.

In a memo to the judge, attorney James Gross, argued that Stratton was already paying his debt to society by serving time for crimes that are now part of the conspiracy. He questioned whether his client would have pleaded guilty in those cases had he known it would be used against him in a federal case.

Stratton is the older brother of Nahjaliek "Loc" McCall, who was convicted of murdering OGK-linked Shahied Oliver, 15, at an Arbor Hill birthday party in August 2007. McCall, 15 at the time, was linked to his brother's uptown rivals.

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