DOWNTOWN — THREE MEN CONVICTED in the 2020 armed robbery and murder of a security guard at an illegal Brownsville gambling location received federal prison terms ranging from 42 to 45 years, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office statement for the Eastern District of New York.
Charles Powell, 28, of Newark, N.J., and Musah Coward, 34, of Paterson, N.J., were sentenced April 16 before U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee to 42 and 45 years, respectively. Co-defendant Brian Castro, 25, received 45 years in December 2025. All three were convicted in January 2025 following a three-week trial.
Prosecutors proved the defendants planned and carried out the Oct. 7, 2020, robbery, during which Powell and Castro each shot security guard Rodney Maxwell, a father of three and a longtime Bellevue Hospital employee, at close range. Three additional victims were shot but survived.
The defendants were ordered to pay $26,730 in restitution to Maxwell’s daughter.
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