Crips Leader Convicted Of Brooklyn Hookah Lounge Murder: Feds

PROSPECT-LEFFERTS GARDENS, BROOKLYN -- The Eight Trey Crips gang leader who fatally shot a rival in a crowded Brooklyn hookah lounge has been convicted of murder, according to federal prosecutors.

Larry Pagett, 39, could face life in prison for murdering Chrispine "Droppa" Philip in the Buda Hookah Lounge at 589 Flatbush Ave. on Aug. 28, 2015, according to a statement from United States Attorney Richard P. Donoghue's office.

Pagett, the leader of the Flatbush Gardens-based Crips gang also known as "Biz,” Biz Loc” and “Molotovbizzz," whipped out his gun and repeatedly shot Philip, whom he blamed for the murder of an Eight Trey Crips gang member in Trinidad in the Spring of 2015, said prosecutors.

Eight Trey Crips had been feuding with rival gang Folk Nation over Brooklyn territory for years, said prosecutors.

Pagett also shot an innocent person, who happened to be at the hookah lounge at the wrong time, in the
stomach and arm, prosecutors said.

The Brooklyn man was convicted Wednesday after an eight-day trial and is expected to be given a mandatory life sentence by Brooklyn Federal Court Judge William Kuntz, who presided over the case.

Photo courtesy of the United States Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York