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Press Release

10th Street Gang Member Sentenced for RICO Conspiracy Involving a Murder

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of New York
 

Buffalo, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that 10th Street Gang member Miguel Moscoso, 23, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO), was sentenced to 30 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. The defendant murdered Christian Portes, a member of the rival 7th Street Gang, on June 13, 2009 at the corner of Whitney Place and Maryland Street. 

“Today's sentence - like others issued in this case - demonstrates that those who engage in gang activity pay a heavy price upon conviction,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul.  “This Office will continue to relentlessly pursue such criminals until they no longer pose a threat to the residents of this community.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi, who handled the case, stated that between 2008 and September 2010, the defendant was a member of the 10th Street Gang. As a part of his involvement in the gang, the defendant, along with other members and associates of the gang, committed violence, possessed firearms, and sold marijuana, cocaine, crack cocaine, and other controlled substances on the West Side of Buffalo.

Moscoso is among 44 10th Street Gang members and associates convicted in this case.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Michael Cerretto, the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge James S. Higgins, New York Field Division.
Updated November 19, 2014