NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — On Thursday, the Department of Justice announced that a member of the Nine Trey Gangsters, an offshoot of the California-based “Bloods” street gang, pleaded guilty to the murders of two men in Newport News. The murders happened in June and July 2014.

Court documents identify the man as Mark Anthony Skeete, a.k.a. Mark Brown, 33, from New York – a previously convicted felon. He first came to Virginia in June 2014 to assist in the prostitution of adult women in the Richmond area.

He then traveled to Newport News, along with several associates, on June 28, 2014, to meet with a client in reference to the prostitution of a woman. However, when the man was unwilling to pay, Skeete shot him dead to remain part of the Nine Trey enterprise.

They fled to North Carolina following the murder before returning to Newport News and killing another man on July 16, 2014 during a drug transaction. They robbed the victim of money, drugs, and his cell phone.

The suspects continued north to Richmond where on September 14, 2014, was found to be in possession of a firearm that was later forensically linked to both of the Newport News murders.

Skeete will be sentenced on December 1. He faces a maximum sentence of up to two life terms in prison.