Buffalo Gang Members Plead Guilty to Cocaine Charges

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Tramell McGee, 30; Kevin Battles, 46; Jerome Brown, 40; Terrell Moore, 33; and Nikita Burt, 29, all of Buffalo, New York, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie G. Foshcio to cocaine trafficking. The pleas were entered in advance of a jury trial that was scheduled to begin today before Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny.

The plea of defendants McGee and Burt carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison, while the plea of Battle, Brown, and Moore carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael L. McCabe, who is handling the case, the defendants were members of the Camp Street Boys, which operated on Buffalo’s East Side. Defendant McGee was one of the leaders of the gang and obtained kilogram quantities of cocaine. He then redistributed the cocaine to other gang members who resold the cocaine as crack cocaine in the vicinity of Jefferson Avenue and Genesee Street in Buffalo.

The defendants were arrested along with five others in June 2011; to date, six of the defendants have been convicted.

“As we have said on numerous occasions, our office is working hand in hand with law enforcement to target gangs and the crimes they commit,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “Today’s guilty pleas send a strong message that this crackdown is having measurable success.”

The pleas are the culmination of an investigation on the part the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian R. Crowell, New York Field Division.

A sentencing date will be scheduled by Judge Skretny.