18 Indicted In Violent Drug Ring In New Rochelle

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — A yearlong investigation into violence and narcotics trafficking in New Rochelle has resulted in two multi-count indictments of 18 people, Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. and New Rochelle Police Commissioner Joseph F. Schaller announced at a press conference Wednesday.

Prosecutors alleged that one of the leaders of the drug ring was involved in a shooting on Fountain Place in 2017 and another on Washington Avenue in 2018.

“We value our safe quality of life here in Westchester and as long as there are gangs pushing cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and other narcotics, and creating violent enterprises to protect their territory, that safety is in jeopardy," Scarpino said. "We are committed to putting an end to gang control and violence and, just as importantly, to stopping the insidious sale of drugs which, all too frequently, cause death.”

The investigation was dubbed Operation: Crip Keeper.

A Westchester County Grand Jury handed up a 50-count indictment against 14 members of the “8 Trey Crips” or “E.T.C,” a street gang operating in New Rochelle. The indictment, unsealed Tuesday before Westchester County Court Judge George Fufidio, included charges of conspiracy, attempted murder, robbery, burglary and a number of narcotics-related offenses.

A second related 18-count indictment, also unsealed Tuesday, charged five individuals in connection with a conspiracy to possess and sell cocaine. One of them was also charged in the “8 Trey Crips” indictment.

“Our focus is to keep New Rochelle safe and to rid our streets of gangs like the '8 trey Crips'," Schaller said. "The New Rochelle Police Department thanks its law enforcement partners for their assistance both in the investigation and in the execution of warrants and arrests yesterday morning. With their help 'Operation: Crip Keeper’ can be called a success.”

The District Attorney’s Gang, Firearms and Narcotics Bureau has been working closely with New Rochelle Police to focus resources on members of this gang to stop violence, illegal weapons possession and the spread of illegal narcotics in the lower county, they said.

Yesterday, law enforcement officers, including New Rochelle Police, Westchester County District Attorney’s Office Investigators, the Westchester County Police, the Westchester County Department of Probation, the Yonkers Police Department and the Mount Vernon Police Department with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, arrested 16 of the 18 named below.

Two are still being sought by police.

Most were arraigned Tuesday. Five were incarcerated on prior charges.

Throughout the course of the investigation police recovered five handguns, a stun gun, and an assault rifle.

“I commend all the agencies involved for working together effectively to bring this investigation to a successful conclusion," Westchester County Department of Public Safety Commissioner Thomas A. Gleason said. "Teamwork and interagency cooperation continues to be a critical way that we keep Westchester safe and remove illegal narcotics and those who sell them from our streets.”

Named in Indictment #19-0407:

1. Evan DeYoung Adams aka “Emula” (DOB 08/10/96) New Rochelle

2. Brandon Brown aka “Bones” (DOB 06/24/93) Bronx

3. Gerardo Alvarez aka “EZ” (DOB 09/18/00) New Rochelle

4. Ebbin Croft aka “Dinero” (DOB 11/09/95) Yonkers

5. Keyonnie Davis aka “Zeus” (DOB 04/23/96) New Rochelle

6. Kody Fudge (DOB 09/01/91) New Rochelle

7. Eduardo Gutierrez aka “Gio” (DOB 02/04/85) New Rochelle

8. Artez Jackson aka “Tez” (DOB 10/16/96) New Rochelle

9. Corey James aka “Curry” (DOB 11/23/95) New Rochelle

10. Ashley Jankowski (DOB 12/17/89) New Rochelle

11. Jamie Martindale (DOB 02/25/98) Mount Vernon

12. Jahil Ricketts aka “Fat Boy” aka “Sheff” (DOB 07/05/97) Rye

13. Jamier Starkes aka “Play” (DOB 05/08/96) Mount Vernon

14. Sion Young aka “C Money” (DOB 01/05/92) Mount Vernon

Named in Indictment #19-0610:

1. Eric Barnett (DOB 12/19/80) Mount Vernon

2. Corey James aka “Curry” (DOB 11/23/95) New Rochelle

3. Anton Morrison (DOB 3/20/1995), New Rochelle

4. David Shelton (DOB 5/2/57), New Rochelle

5. Miguel Tarrant aka “Zee” or “Zelda”

On the first indictment, 14 members of the New Rochelle “8 Trey Crips” are charged with conspiracy to commit crimes including assault, criminal sale and possession of narcotics, and weapons offenses. Additionally, seven Crips were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. The indictment details the gang’s cocaine trafficking operation in New Rochelle as well as numerous violent incidents including a violent home invasion, three attempted murders and numerous narcotics and weapons related charges.

The indictment alleges several of the defendants distributed cocaine from a residence at 110 Washington Ave., New Rochelle. There, Brandon Brown aka “Bones” fielded calls from cocaine buyers and sent other Crips, including Artez Jackson aka “Tez,” to make the sales on his behalf.

The relationship between Brown and Jackson soured, however, when Brown was incarcerated at Rikers Island for a different case and Jackson began to sell directly to Brown’s customers. This conflict culminated with Brown shooting at Jackson Sept. 23, 2018, in the area of Walnut Street and Washington Avenue in New Rochelle, prosecutors alleged.

Police said Brown, along with Jamier Starkes aka “Play” and Eduardo Gutierrez aka “Gio,” also participated in an attempted murder Oct. 10, 2017, on Fountain Place in New Rochelle where he and Starkes shot at a rival in an attempt to kill him.

After that shooting, Brown sent videos of news coverage of the story to several people over Facebook private messaging bragging about the shooting and comparing himself to Elmer Fudd, prosecutors alleged.

Five Crips members—Starkes, Gerardo Ernan Alvarez aka “EZ,” Corey James aka “Curry,” Jackson and Jahil Ricketts aka “Fat Boy” aka “Sheff”—were charged with attempted murder in relation to a May 8, 2018, shooting on May Street in New Rochelle where the group fired at a rival. Prosecutors said Ricketts picked up the shell casings afterward in an attempt to thwart the police investigation.

The gang often used coded language to communicate over the telephone and Facebook private messaging.

In separate incidents, not covered by this indictment, two of the alleged gang members named here were arrested in Yonkers and Mount Vernon. Ebbin Croft aka “Dinero” was recently charged with Assault in the First Degree for a stabbing that occurred May 22, 2019, on a Bee Line Bus in the City of Yonkers. On June 6, 2019, Evan DeYoung Adams aka “Emula” was charged with the possession of two loaded handguns in Mount Vernon and an assault rifle in New Rochelle. All three weapons have been recovered.

The second indictment, unsealed Tuesday, charges Corey James, an “8 Trey Crip” member named in the first indictment, and four other defendants with conspiracy for working together in a cocaine trafficking operation. They were also indicted for multiple charges of the criminal possession and sale of controlled substances.

This sweep in New Rochelle is the third in the series of gang and drug investigations in recent months resulting from a collaboration between the DA’s Office and local police departments, including Port Chester and Mount Vernon, in an effort to combat narcotics trafficking and violence perpetrated by local gangs.

The case is being prosecuted by the Investigations Division Gang, Guns and Narcotics Bureau.

PHOTOS/ Westchester County District Attorney's Office

SEE ALSO:

• 6 Arrested After Yearlong OD Investigation In Port Chester
• Criminal Enterprise: 12 Indicted on 68 Drug Trafficking Counts