Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson on Tuesday announced that two East New York men have been convicted of first-degree kidnapping, second-degree murder and related charges for the forced abduction and murder of a Williamsburg man.

“These two defendants kidnapped a man and then slit his throat all for money, drugs and a car. They will now pay a steep price for their barbaric acts,” said Thompson.
           
The DA identified the defendants as Tramel Cuencas, 24, and Irving Gavin, 28, both of 702 Warwick St. in East New York. Defendant Cuencas was convicted on April 14 of two counts of second-degree murder and one count of second-degree robbery following a jury trial. Defendant Gavin was convicted of first-degree kidnapping and first-degree burglary by a separate jury on April 18. Both defendants will be sentenced before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on May 3, at which time they face a maximum of 50 years to life behind bars.
 
The DA said that according to trial testimony, on the afternoon of Nov. 14, 2012, the defendants forced their way into the apartment of Thomas Dudley and held him and three other occupants at gun point. They then took approximately $10,000 from a safe inside the home. Three of Dudley’s family members, including his 8-year-old sister, were in the apartment at the time.
 
The defendants then forced Dudley to get dressed, tied his hands and then directed him into a U-Haul truck waiting outside. Dudley’s body was found the following day in Forest Park, Queens; his throat was cut from ear-to-ear and both wrists were slashed.
 
After the defendants, both members of the Elm Street Piru gang, were arrested on Nov. 19, 2012, they made incriminating statements admitting to the kidnapping and indicated that the kidnapping was ordered by another gang member as retaliation for an alleged drug dispute involving Dudley. In exchange for kidnapping Dudley, the defendants expected to be paid in cash, drugs and Dudley’s Jaguar.