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TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Manatee County gang member was sentenced to 30 years in prison for criminal charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering. Keith Pahrm was a member of the Third Shift criminal street gang operating in Manatee County. Pahrm and 11 co-defendants are being prosecuted for their criminal activities by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.

Pahrm, 23, and his fellow Third Shift members used their gang to control the drug trade in Manatee County. Other criminal activities tied to the gang members include weapons charges and resisting arrest. Pahrm, of Bradenton, and his co-defendants were arrested in May 2008 by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Pahrm had previously agreed plead guilty to the charges against him and to cooperate with prosecution, but recently withdrew his cooperation and received his 30-year sentence from Manatee County Circuit Court Judge Janette Dunnigan. Seven of Pahrm’s co-defendants also face charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering and are currently being held in the Manatee County Jail while their trials progress.in August. Three have already been sentenced to prison terms ranging from eight to 10 years. Two others have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Pahrm and the rest of the Third Shift gang are among 83 gang members charged since January 1, 2007.