25 alleged gang members variously charged with murder, shootings
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson and New York City Police Commissioner William J. Bratton on Wednesday announced that 25 alleged members of the rival Lincoln Family and Bergen Family gangs have been variously charged in a 67-count indictment with conspiracy, murder, attempted murder, weapons possession and other charges in connection with eight separate shootings in Crown Heights that left six people injured and a 19-year-old dead.
“This indictment underscores the continuing commitment of this office and the NYPD to take back the streets of Brooklyn from mindless gang and gun violence that puts so many people at risk, including in this case an innocent 13-year-old girl,” said Thompson.
The DA said that most of the defendants were arraigned on Tuesday before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Joseph P. Sullivan and ordered held without bail and to return to court on Sept.14, 2016. The others will be arraigned at a later date. Three defendants are still at large. They are variously charged with second-degree murder, first- and second-degree conspiracy, second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, first-degree criminal use of a firearm, first-degree attempted assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and related charges. (See defendant addendum).
Thompson said that according to the investigation, the defendants, who now range in age from 16 to 23, are members of rival street gangs operating primarily within the 77th Precinct, and frequently engaged in shootings and other violent acts to protect their turf. Lincoln Family territory is bordered by Classon Avenue, Prospect Place, Bedford Avenue and Eastern Parkway. Bergen Family territory is bordered by Bergen Street, Kingston Avenue, Park Place and Rogers Avenue. There is a one-block buffer between the two gang territories.
During the course of the conspiracy, between October 2013 and the present, the defendants allegedly agreed to commit crimes, including murder and assault, in order to maintain their dominance over their geographic area, directing their acts of violence toward rival gang members using social media and then taking credit for violent acts on social media. At other times they taunted each other by taking photos of themselves in rival territory and posting them on Facebook.
In addition to charging all of the defendants with second-degree conspiracy for planning and taking part in acts of violence against each other, defendants Isaiah Douglas, 18; Federico Jaen, 19; Linwood Jones, 22; Javon Young, 18; Ebony Brown, 21; and Russell Forest, 18, are charged with first-degree conspiracy, an A-I felony punishable by up to 25 years to life in prison for allegedly conspiring to commit second-degree murder with Lesean Carson, who was under 16 at the time. A person is guilty of first-degree conspiracy if they are over age 18 and conspire with someone under age 16 to commit a class A felony.
Among the acts of violence charged in the conspiracy are the following:
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On June 2, 2014 Lincoln Family member Ivan Fuentes rode up on a bicycle and opened fire on several Bergen Family members standing in front of 1120 Bergen St. One member was struck in the groin.
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On Oct. 25, 2014 Bergen Family members Federico Jaen and Lesean Carson rode up on bicycles and shot at a Lincoln Family member and a 13-year-old Lincoln Family associate, striking him in the ankle.
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On Jan. 8, 2015 Lincoln Family member Laquan Battle shot and killed Bergen Family member Jaquay (Queezy) Bennett, 19, in front of 769 St. Marks Ave. in retaliation for a Jan. 5, 2015 shooting in which a Bergen Family member, Lesean Carson, shot and injured a Lincoln Family member in front of 797 Franklin Ave.
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On March 10, 2016 Lincoln Family member Ivan Fuentes, accompanied by Lincoln Family members Jhalanie Jones, Ray Hernandez, Scott Hunter and Donovan Frazier, fired multiple shots at rival gang members at Franklin Avenue and President Street as school was letting out at Clara Barton High School and the International High School at Prospect Heights, striking and injuring a Bergen Family member and an innocent 13-year-old girl.
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—Information from the Brooklyn DA’s Office
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