A Binghamton man has been sentenced to life in prison for drug trafficking after he appeared in court yesterday. 42-year-old Leslie Hughes was one of 14 individuals accused of being affiliated with a gang-related drug conspiracy in our area. Hughes is said to be a member of the MacBallers, a local gang set of the Bloods. The U.S. District Court judge who sentenced Hughes said that Hughes has shown a history of violent and drug related crimes. The MacBallers gang clubhouse is the 17 East Bar on Clinton Street in Binghamton. The MacBallers are said to have used guns in numerous assaults while drug trafficking. They also only used rental cars, and rental apartments to process and deliver their drugs. In addition, the MacBallers used disposable cell phones to make gang-related calls. Despite this, authorities were able to phone tap the gang, Authorities also used informants and undercover drug purchasers to aid in their investigation into the gangs drug-trafficking activities. Hughes says that he plans on appealing his conviction.
