Three Yonkers Men Sentenced for 2008 Murder, Armed Robberies, and Narcotics Offenses

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that three defendants were sentenced to decades in prison today by United States District Judge CATHY SEIBEL for committing the 2008 murder of a Yonkers resident on Helena Avenue in Yonkers, New York, several armed robberies, narcotics trafficking, and firearms offenses. GREGORY FULLER, a/k/a “Murder,” was sentenced to 100 years’ imprisonment; defendant DAVON YOUNG, a/k/a “Burners,” was sentenced to 65 years’ imprisonment; THOMAS CHAMBLISS was sentenced to 45 years’ imprisonment.

U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA stated: “Today justice has been served. These defendants will serve substantial prison sentences as a result of their participation in a brutal murder and other serious crimes. These sentences send a clear message that drug dealing and gang violence will not be tolerated in Yonkers or in any other community this office serves.”

YOUNG, FULLER, and CHAMBLISS were convicted after a four-week jury trial before Judge SEIBEL in January 2011. According to the evidence at trial, YOUNG, FULLER and CHAMBLISS were all members of the Elm Street Wolves, a violent drug trafficking crew that operated in the Nodine Hill section of Southwest Yonkers, and each sold copious amounts of crack to drug users in the vicinity of Elm Street.

In 2008, YOUNG, CHAMBLISS, and FULLER also committed a series of gunpoint robberies of drug dealers in Yonkers. First, on January 4, 2008, YOUNG and FULLER robbed a crack cocaine dealer with a shotgun inside an apartment at 16 Orchard Place in Yonkers and stole approximately $600 in drug proceeds. Second, on January 14, 2008, FULLER and several co-conspirators robbed another crack cocaine dealer using a semi-automatic handgun in a hallway inside 34 Prospect Street in Yonkers.

Finally, on January 14, 2008, YOUNG, CHAMBLISS, and FULLER robbed Tyrone Bergmann in the vicinity of 177 Helena Avenue, Yonkers. In the course of that robbery, YOUNG shot and killed Bergmann. Subsequent to the murder, CHAMBLISS contacted an eyewitness to the murder and instructed the eyewitness to lie to the Yonkers police about the murder.

In imposing sentence, JUDGE SEIBEL stated that she hoped that the significant sentences she imposed on the defendants would resonate on the streets of Yonkers and operate as a “wake up call to the next generation.”

Mr. BHARARA praised the outstanding efforts of the FBI and the Yonkers Police Department in connection with this investigation and trial.

Assistant United States Attorneys MICHAEL Q. ENGLISH and NICHOLAS L. McQUAID are in charge of the prosecution.