Tony Peebles Gets Nearly 25 Years for 10th Street Gang Rampage

Buffalo enforcer Tony Peebles, 30, is headed to federal prison for 295 months after a violent decade-long run with the 10th Street Gang, where he racked up eight shootings in just over two years. Convicted of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and RICO conspiracy, Peebles was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara in a packed Buffalo courtroom.

Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. didn’t mince words, calling Peebles “extremely violent and a prolific shooter” whose actions terrorized the west side of Buffalo. From 2000 to 2010, the 10th Street Gang controlled a tightly defined turf, using threats, beatings, and gunfire to keep rivals out and drugs flowing. Peebles wasn’t just a participant—he was a triggerman who lived by the gun.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi, who prosecuted the case, laid out a chilling pattern of violence. On June 15, 2007, Peebles opened fire on two rival gang members, wounding both. Then, over a brutal four-day stretch in August 2009, he escalated—first driving accomplices to shoot into a home, then personally shooting a man nine times at 211 Bird Avenue in retaliation for his brother’s murder.

The bloodshed didn’t stop. On August 13, Peebles gunned down another rival on Prospect Avenue. The next day, he opened fire again with a fellow gang member near Auburn and Dewitt. Days later, on August 17, he rolled through Virginia Street in a stolen car, unloading rounds at a known enemy. Each time, the intent was clear: kill.

But Peebles wasn’t done. On October 17, 2009, he drove his girlfriend’s car alongside a victim on Plymouth and Pennsylvania, holding the vehicle steady while a passenger emptied a magazine into the man, leaving him for dead. Then, on November 8, 2009, Peebles drove to 29 Ripley Avenue while an AR-15 roared from the passenger seat, spraying a residence with bullets. The victim survived—barely.

The takedown came through the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force, led by Special Agent-in-Charge Adam S. Cohen, whose investigation peeled back years of gang activity, connecting Peebles to drug distribution, firearm possession, and a reign of terror. Now, with 295 months behind bars, the streets of Buffalo are one shooter quieter—but the scars remain.