July 16, 2015

Twenty Arrested as Federal and Local Authorities Dismantle Violent Set of Crips Gang

A 75-count superseding indictment was unsealed today in United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York charging alleged members and associates of the Outlaw Gangsta Crips (OGC) with crimes including racketeering conspiracy, murder conspiracy, attempted murder, bank fraud, narcotics trafficking, and firearms offenses. The indictment was returned under seal by a federal grand jury on July 15, 2015, and charges the defendants with crimes committed in New York, Connecticut, and West Virginia between August 9, 2013 and May 12, 2015.

The charges were announced by Kelly T. Currie, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Diego Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), William J. Bratton, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), and Kenneth P. Thompson, District Attorney, Kings County District Attorney’s Office (KCDA).

“This prosecution effectively ends OGC’s reign of terror over East Flatbush,” stated Acting United States Attorney Currie. “We are committed to dismantling these criminal gangs and making our communities safe.” Mr. Currie thanked the FBI, NYPD, U.S. Marshal Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Martinsburg, West Virginia Police Department, and the Norwich, Connecticut Police Department for their assistances in the investigation.

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Rodriguez stated, “The FBI remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to eliminate violent criminal gangs like OGC while protecting our communities. The profits OGC allegedly obtained by peddling poison and committing bank fraud allowed them to purchase weapons in support of their illegal operations. Their crimes, alleged herein, run the gamut from racketeering conspiracy and drug distribution to robbery, assault, murder conspiracies, and attempts. We would like to thank all the agencies noted above for their participation in this investigation.”

Police Commissioner Bratton stated, “The members of OGC and their associates allegedly operated their violent gang on the streets of Brooklyn and beyond the borders of New York City, but with these arrests and indictments we send a message–the NYPD and our law enforcement partners will work tirelessly to bring you to justice and remove you from our communities. I want to commend the hard work of the investigators of Gang Squad Brooklyn South and the many law enforcement agencies who contributed to this investigation.”

District Attorney Thompson stated, “With this indictment, we are returning the streets of East Flatbush to the people of East Flatbush—who should not have to live in the midst of gun violence, murder plots, and drug dealing.”

OGC was based in and around the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, and comprised a set, or subgroup, of the Crips street gang that included an offshoot known as Shoota Gang, which in turn included members and associates of OGC as well as members and associates of other gangs, including the Eight Trey Gangsta Crips (Eight Trey), Bosses In Business, and the Bloods. As alleged in the superseding indictment and the government’s detention memorandum, 16 of the defendants—including the leaders of OGC, Conell Brogdon, Courtney Coy, and Parris Desuze—participated in the affairs of OGC through a variety of crimes. The charged crimes of violence included robberies, gang shootouts, and displays of power over gang turf:

  • On October 9 and 10, 2013, Solomon Artis and others conspired to break into and rob at gunpoint a check-cashing store at 1446 Nostrand Avenue. They entered a vacant apartment above the check-cashing business and began cutting a hole in the floor. Their plan was to enter the store during the day and to force an employee—at gunpoint—to open the safe. The plan was thwarted when an employee noticed damage to the ceiling.
  • On October 12, 2013, Brogdon shot victims identified in the indictment as John Doe #2 and John Doe #3 in front of 1404 Nostrand Avenue. The shootings were part of an ongoing dispute with rivals of OGC.
  • On June 3, 2014, Brogdon, Malik Campbell, Brandon Greenidge, Jeffrey Joseph, and Stephon Rene attempted to murder a victim identified as John Doe #1. The defendants surrounded John Doe #1 inside of the Big Boy Deli at 1452 Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn and attempted to steal his chain. During the confrontation, Brogdon handed Campbell a gun, and Campbell shot John Doe #1 multiple times.
  • On July 19, 2014, Cordero Passley and others assaulted and stabbed—in the torso, throat, and neck—a victim identified as John Doe #4 in front of 116 Lenox Road. The incident began when Passley ordered a woman to stop playing a song by alleged rival gang member Ackquille Jean Pollard, better known as the rapper “Bobby Shmurda.” When John Doe #4 defended the woman, which Passley viewed as disrespectful, Passley and others attacked him, sending him to the hospital.

Significantly, the government’s investigation, which included a judiciallyauthorized wiretap, thwarted a conspiracy to murder two individuals. In January 2014, a member of OGC named Kareem Mitchell, also known as “Pop,” was murdered. OGC members believed that John Doe #5 and John Doe #6, and a third individual, were responsible for the murder. On May 12, 2015, Artis, Leonard Barletto, Coy and Desuze discussed in a series of intercepted telephone calls their belief that John Does #5 and #6 were in a specific location in East Flatbush, and Barletto, Coy, and Desuze confirmed that they had guns. Later that day, law enforcement observed Barletto, Coy, and Andre Holman in a car parked on the block where they expected to find the intended victims. After the three defendants stepped out of the car and walked around the corner, Barletto and Coy were arrested along with Desuze, who was with them; Artis was arrested one block away in his home. A search of the car revealed three firearms. Holman was arrested on May 24, 2015.

The members and associates of OGC also profited by narcotics trafficking and bank fraud. The bank fraud charges allege that Derrick Bienaime, Davon Brown, Passley, Gabriel Patterson, and Akeem Watson conspired to defraud financial institutions between January 6, 2014 and January 20, 2015, and that they participated in schemes to defraud Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, and TD Bank. The schemes involved numerous transactions in New York and elsewhere and, conservatively, caused losses in excess of $500,000. In each instance a scheme began with a member or associate of OGC—including Eight Trey members Brown and Passley, who were closely affiliated with OGC—obtaining a paycheck and then using the information on that check to create phony checks that appeared to be written by business entities. The phony checks were deposited into various individuals’ bank accounts, and money was then quickly withdrawn before the checks could be determined to be fraudulent.

If convicted of the charges in the superseding indictment, Artis, Barletto, Derrick Bienaime, Brogdon, Campbell, Stanley Cherenfant, Steven Cherenfant, Coy, Desuze, Greenidge, Cory Harris, Jamar Harry, Holman, Silbert Nicholson, Joseph, and Rene each face a maximum sentence of life.

Thirteen of the defendants are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn. Greenidge was arraigned earlier today at the federal courthouse in Martinsburg, West Virginia, and Passley will be arraigned this afternoon at the federal courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia. The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by the office’s Organized Crime & Gangs Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Allon Lifshitz and Rena Paul are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendants:

SOLOMON ARTIS

  • Age: 25
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

LEONARD BARLETTO

  • Age: 27
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

DERRICK BIENAIME

  • Age: 20
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

CONELL BROGDON

  • Age: 28
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

DAVON BROWN

  • Age: 21
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

MALIK CAMPBELL

  • Age: 27
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

STANLEY CHERENFANT

  • Age: 24
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

STEVEN CHERENFANT

  • Age: 23
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

COURTNEY COY

  • Age: 28
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

PARRIS DESUZE

  • Age: 26
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

BRANDON GREENIDGE

  • Age: 29
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

CORY HARRIS

  • Age: 26
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

JAMAR HARRY

  • Age: 26
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

ANDRE HOLMAN

  • Age: 27
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

JEFFREY JOSEPH

  • Age: 30
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

SILBERT NICHOLSON

  • Age: 23
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

CORDERO PASSLEY

  • Age: 20
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

GABRIEL PATTERSON

  • Age: 20
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

STEPHON RENE

  • Age: 18
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York

AKEEM WATSON

  • Age: 23
  • Residence: Brooklyn, New York