63 ‘Bloods’ Members Indicted on Murder, Drugs
BRONX, NEW YORK, APRIL 10- District Attorney Robert T. Johnson and New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton announced the arrests and indictment of 63 reputed ‘Bloods’ gang members and associates following a two-year-long joint investigation which began following an increase in shooting incidents.
The spike in shootings occurred in the vicinity of 169th Street and Washington Avenue, an area known as ‘The Nine’ in the Morrisania section of the Bronx. Much of the gang affiliated violence occurred in and around two New York City Housing Authority developments, the Webster Houses and the Gouverneur Morris Houses.
All 63 ‘Bloods’ affiliated ‘Mac Ballas’ named in the 109 count indictment are charged with multiple counts of conspiracy to traffic in illegal narcotics including heroin, crack cocaine, powdered cocaine, and the prescription drugs Oxycodone and Percocet. Transactions involving the illegal drugs occurred not only in the Bronx but in Chelsea, East Harlem and the Lower East Side in Manhattan, Binghamton, New York, and Tuckahoe, New York.
The defendants are also charged with conspiring to commit two murders, four attempted murders, a kidnapping, several assaults, home invasion robberies and burglaries, as well as criminal possession of firearms on numerous occasions.
The charges in the indictment are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Johnson said, “All law enforcement personnel involved in this investigation should be very proud of what has been accomplished with these arrests and this indictment which alleges an extensive catalogue of violent crimes. Our continued cooperative efforts should go a long way in helping to secure convictions of these defendants and thereby improve the quality of life for the residents of Morrisania by eradicating the murder and mayhem in their streets.”
Bratton said, “Today’s indictments send a very clear message to those criminals who prey upon our communities and recruit our youth into a culture of violence; we will work tirelessly to track you down and hold you accountable for your illegal actions. We hope the families of the victims affected by these criminals will get some comfort in knowing that the Mac Balla Family (MBF) and their associates will be brought to justice. I want to thank all of the agencies involved in this extensive investigation for dismantling one of the city’s most violent criminal enterprises.”
The lengthy investigation involved the use of court ordered wiretaps, video surveillance, GPS technology, as well as monitored telephone calls from gang leaders directing gang business from city and state correctional facilities. There were also purchases of various narcotic and prescription drugs by undercover investigators.
According to the indictment the defendants are accused of engaging in the conspiracy from approximately April 3, 2009 through April 7, 2014.
Each of the defendants is facing a maximum sentence of up to life imprisonment if convicted of the most serious of the conspiracy counts, Conspiracy in the First Degree, a Class A-I felony offense.
One defendant, Larry Calderon, is facing a maximum sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole if found guilty of Murder in the First Degree in the contract killing of Frank Russell in October 2011.
It is alleged that Calderon ordered the ‘hit’ because reputed gang member Russell attempted an unauthorized home invasion robbery in which an accomplice was shot and left behind to die, in violation of the Mac Balla’s code of conduct.
Calderon has also been charged with murder in the second degree while ‘acting-in-concert’ with three men Akive Rivera, Adam Kinley, and a third un-apprehended individual, in causing Russell’s death on October 28, 2011. If convicted of Murder in the second degree the defendants would be facing a maximum sentence of up to 25 years to life imprisonment.
A second homicide charged in the indictment involved the shooting death of Mathew Simmons on June 26, 2013. Simmons, an alleged marijuana dealer, was the target of a robbery allegedly committed by Mattyias Letang, Tyrell Nash, and a third un-apprehended individual. They are facing a top count of murder in the second degree, while ‘acting-in-concert’ in causing Simmons’ death. Conviction on the top count is punishable by a maximum sentence of 25 years to life imprisonment.
The indictment includes charges against eight defendants in four attempted murders and a kidnapping. All four attempted murders were shootings at various street locations involving ‘beefs’ with members of rival gangs. Damien Matos allegedly shot Jeffrey Bolden on May 17, 2012. Russell Clark and an un-apprehended individual were charged in the shooting of Jason Rivera on June 12, 2012. Tyrell Nash was charged with the attempted murder of Jerome Roman and the assault of India Scarborough in shootings on July 1, 2012. Scarborough was a bystander caught in the line of fire. Nash was also charged in a second attempted murder, along with Mattyais Letang, in the shooting of another rival gang member, on August 13, 2013. Adam Kindley, Michael Herbin and Michael Monroe were charged with kidnapping the son of a reputed drug dealer and rapper on June 14, 2012. These defendants are facing a maximum sentence of up to 25 years imprisonment if convicted on the attempted murder, assault, and kidnapping charges.
27 of the 63 defendants named in the indictment were already in custody on other matters when investigators began executing arrest warrants on Monday, April 7, 2014. A number of the defendants named in the indictment being announced today are also facing federal charges announced last month by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District.
This investigation is continuing and additional arrests are expected. 15 of the 63 people indicted are still being sought by law enforcement.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Assistant District Christine Scaccia.
