Jungle Junkies Street Gang Members Prosecuted

United States Attorney Andrew T. Baxter announced recent sentencing proceedings before United States District Judge Gary L. Sharpe relating to the prosecution of the Jungle Junkies street gang, which operated in the Arbor Hill/West Hills Section of the City of Albany, New York up until October, 2006. AMIN COWAN, a/k/a Ah, age 31, of Albany, New York, was sentenced yesterday by Judge Sharpe to imprisonment for 56 months, to be followed by supervised release for 3 years, and a $200 special assessment. TRACY BATTLE, a/k/a Grady (age 28) and ERNEST CONLEY, a/k/a Loc, a/k/a E-Loc, a/k/a EZ-Loc (age 22), were both sentenced today by Judge Sharpe. TRACY BATTLE was sentenced to imprisonment for 70 months, to be followed by supervised release for 5 years and a $100 special assessment. ERNEST CONLEY was sentenced to imprisonment for 168 months, to be followed by supervised release for 5 years, and a $200 special assessment. COWAN’s sentence follows his plea of guilty on December 8, 2008 to Counts One and Seven of Second Superseding Indictment 06-CR-394 charging him with participating in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy and tampering with a witness. BATTLE’s sentence follows his plea of guilty on April 5, 2007 to Count Two of the indictment, charging him with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute more than 50 grams of cocaine base (crack cocaine). BATTLE was not charged in the RICO conspiracy count and was not alleged to have been a member or associate of the gang. CONLEY’s sentence follows his plea of guilty on March 29, 2007 to two counts of the indictment, charging him with participating in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute more than 50 grams of cocaine base (crack cocaine). CONLEY was described in Court as having played a “leadership role” in the gang. COWAN, BATTLE, and CONLEY are the twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth, and twenty-seventh defendants to be sentenced in this case.

This prosecution resulted from a joint investigation conducted by the Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Field Division; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration, Albany District Office; the City of Albany Police Department; the Albany County Sheriff’s Department; the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Department; the New York State Department of Corrections; the New York State Division of Parole; the New York State Police; the United States Marshal, Northern District of New York, Albany Office; the Albany County District Attorney’s Office; the Rensselaer County District Attorney’s Office; the Town of Guilderland Police Department; the Town of Bethlehem Police Department; and the City of Cohoes Police Department.