Earlier today, following three weeks of trial, a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, returned guilty verdicts against Brian Gill, David Gill and Samuel McIntosh for their participation in the drug-related murder of Michael Dawson on June 22, 1994. Brian Gill and David Gill were also convicted of a narcotics trafficking conspiracy between 2011 and 2013. The charges arose out of the defendants’ long-time control of a drug trafficking organization that operated in the Park Hill housing complex in the Clifton neighborhood of Staten Island. When sentenced by United States Chief District Judge Carol B. Amon, Brian Gill faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment; David Gill and Samuel McIntosh each face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The verdicts were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and George Venizelos, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI).

“For years, these defendants made drug dealing and violence a daily reality for the law-abiding residents of Park Hill,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “Today, these three men have been held accountable for the lives they have destroyed and the harm they have done to one of our communities. As a result of the extraordinary efforts of law enforcement, Park Hill is a safer place.” Ms. Lynch extended her grateful appreciation to the FBI, New York City Police Department, and the Richmond County District Attorney for their outstanding assistance in this case.

Over the course of two decades, the defendants intermittently operated a lucrative drug distribution business in Park Hill, Staten Island. On June 22, 1994, in connection with that business and in retaliation for selling crack cocaine on the defendants’ turf, the defendants brazenly murdered Michael Dawson in broad daylight in the street outside of 160 Park Hill Avenue, a profitable building for crack dealing in Park Hill. Shortly thereafter, Brian Gill fled Staten Island. In 2011, when Brian Gill returned to Park Hill after 17 years away, he launched another crack dealing business in Park Hill from his residence at 160 Park Hill Avenue. David Gill participated in and helped Brian Gill with that business.

The convictions of these defendants are the latest in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York targeting members of violent narcotics trafficking organizations operating in Brooklyn and Staten Island. This year alone, in five separate trials, this Office has obtained trial convictions for seven defendants for carrying out ten different murders.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nadia Shihata and Alicyn Cooley.

The Defendants:

• BRIAN GILL
• Age: 46 years
• Staten Island, New York

• DAVID GILL
• Age: 43 years
• Staten Island, New York

• SAMUEL MCINTOSH
• Age: 40 years
• Staten Island, New York