The Bloods in South Carolina: United Blood Nation sets on the court record

Federal court records state that the Bloods formed in Los Angeles in the 1970s and that the United Blood Nation was created on Rikers Island, New York, in 1993. In South Carolina, federal and state prosecutors have charged members of UBN-lineage sets including the Gangsta Killer Bloods/G-Shine, Billie East Side Bloods and Nine Trey Gangsters, along with Piru sets such as Elm Street Piru and Fruit Town Piru. Bloods sets also appear in public reporting on South Carolina prisons, including the 2018 Lee Correctional Institution riot. [1][2][3][4][5]

Key South Carolina cases

The USAO-SC described the GKB on 2008-04-29 as a local chapter of the United Blood Nation when six Columbia members were sentenced. The Columbia Bloods investigation ended in a life sentence, according to a 2014-06-06 release. [6][7]

On 2017-02-23 federal indictments were unsealed against 13 defendants after an investigation of the Billie East Side Bloods, a UBN set. On 2018-03-07 two Billies East Side Bloods members were sentenced in Florence; prosecutors stated that one transported stolen firearms to New York. [3][8]

On 2018-12-18, 24 people were arrested in Myrtle Beach and Horry County in a federal wiretap investigation of G-Shine and its Shine Money Gang sub-set. All 33 defendants in the G-Shine/SMG case had pleaded guilty by 2019-08-15. A 2020-12-02 release links Operation Silver Sunset (2017, Billy Bloods) and Operation Rise and Shine (2018, G-Shine/SMG) to a further 26 charged defendants. [2][9][10]

Piru sets have a separate record. On 2017-11-21 five Elm Street Piru Bloods members from Greenville, Piedmont, Florence and Bishopville were indicted for conspiracy to murder a state witness, and on 2018-12-07 a federal jury convicted Greenville resident Brian Lewis, described as the South Carolina leader of the gang. In North Charleston, the FBI investigated the Fruit Town Piru, described as a sect of the Bloods, in a case that produced 26 indictments announced on 2026-05-20. [4][11][12]

Inside SCDC

The Post and Courier reported in November 2019 that sets inside South Carolina prisons have their own names and lineups, citing the Bloods' G-Shine, GKB and Sex Money Murder groups. At a 2023 trial over the 2018-04-15 Lee Correctional Institution riot, the prosecutor stated that Bloods killed Crips in the F-3 dorm, Crips in F-5 retaliated, and Bloods in F-1 saw the attack on social media through contraband cellphones. On 2026-09-24 another inmate was convicted on all counts tied to the riot; the prosecutor said his group attacked the Bloods. [13][5][14]

Where it stands

A 2024-01-29 federal release describes a Horry County multi-agency operation that targeted the Rollin' 90s Crips, G-Shine Bloods and Gangster Disciples. The Post and Courier reported that 10 Blood gang members were arrested in the Longs area in a 2026-09-30 joint operation with SLED. [15][16]

The South Carolina Attorney General announced state grand jury indictments on 2026-08-24 in a Charleston-area drug case whose targets had associations to Piru Bloods and other groups. In Greenville, a man was sentenced on 2026-09-25 over a shooting at a cookout a Bloods sect held for Bloods Hood Day. [17][18]

The full profile, with every source, the county records and a dated timeline, is on the group page.