Charges Include Murder, Murder Conspiracies, Robberies and
Narcotics Distribution
Earlier today, a superseding indictment was unsealed in
federal court in Central Islip variously charging six members and associates of
the Red Stone Gorillas “set” of the Bloods street gang with racketeering,
murder, robberies, narcotics trafficking and firearms offenses. The superseding indictment adds five new
defendants, Jimmy Dean, Roger Foster, Corey Belcher, Willie Belcher and Eric
Ross. Those defendants were arrested
this morning in various locations on the East End of Long Island, and will be
arraigned this afternoon before United States District Judge Joanna
Seybert. Two defendants, the gang’s
alleged leader Jimmy Dean and Terrill Latney, were already in custody, and will
be arraigned at a later date.
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern
District of New York; William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge,
Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), Timothy Sini, District
Attorney, Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office (SCDA), Geraldine Hart,
Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), Keith M. Corlett,
Superintendent, New York State Police (NYSP), and David J. Hegermiller, Chief,
Riverhead Police Department, announced the charges.
“Through murder, assaults and drug sales, these members and
associates of the Bloods’ Red Stone Gorillas posed a grave danger to
communities on eastern Long Island,” stated United States Attorney
Donoghue. “This Office, together with
our federal and local law enforcement partners, will continue working
tirelessly to prosecute defendants like these and eradicate violent street
gangs throughout Long Island.” Mr.
Donoghue expressed his grateful appreciation to the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task
Force and the Suffolk County East End Drug Task Force for their work on the
case.
“These arrests are the culmination of several years of
intensive investigation to take out the worst-of-the-worst gang members
terrorizing Eastern Long Island communities,” stated FBI Assistant
Director-in-Charge Sweeney. “These
subjects have allegedly created such a violent environment in parts of the town
where they operate that they were dealing out in the open, without fear. We put a huge dent in that practice with the
first round of arrests in this case, and today's action shows our FBI Long
Island Gang Task Force and our law enforcement partners won’t stop until all of
them are rounded up.”
“These are extremely dangerous gang members who are
responsible not only for conspiring to commit murder, but for consistently
driving crime on the East End through drug dealing and illegal firearm
offenses,” stated Suffolk County District Attorney Sini. “Eradicating violent
street gangs from our community is a top priority for my office. I thank all of
our federal and local law enforcement partners for their continued partnership
in the investigation and prosecution of gang members.”
“These Blood gang members and their associates engaged in
violence and trafficked large quantities of narcotics for years on the East End
of Long Island. Thanks to the diligent
work of the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force and the Suffolk County East End
Drug Task Force— they have been stopped and will be held accountable for their
heinous crimes,” stated SCPD Commissioner Hart. “The department will continue
to work with our law enforcement partners to rid our communities of violent
street gangs.”
“I commend our federal, state, and local law enforcement
partners for their commitment to Project Safe Neighborhoods,” stated NYSP
Superintendent Corlett. “The arrests of
these criminals are proof that, together, we are making our neighborhoods
safer. Through our collaborative efforts, we will continue to target and
apprehend gang members like the Blood Gang so they can no longer endanger the
lives of New Yorkers through their heinous activities.”
“We truly appreciate the unprecedented cooperation and
assistance from our federal, state and county law enforcement partners in
helping us to remove these criminals from our local communities here on the
east end of Long Island,” stated Riverhead Police Chief Hegermiller.
As detailed in the superseding indictment and other court
filings by the government, the defendants’ gang committed acts of violence and
distributed large quantities of crack cocaine, powder cocaine and heroin in the
Riverhead area on Long Island for nearly a decade. On November 17, 2015, while attempting to
carry out Dean’s order to kill an individual, Latney, and others fatally shot
Thomas Lacolla as he sat in the intended victim’s car. On August 1, 2015, Foster and others shot and
wounded a suspected member of the rival Crips gang and a female bystander. Following Dean’s arrest in 2016, Latney,
Foster and others assumed control of the gang’s drug distribution
operations.
The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the
defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, the defendants face maximum
sentences of up to life imprisonment.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a
program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities
they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN
in 2017 as part of the its renewed focus on targeting violent criminals,
directing all U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to work in partnership with federal,
state, local and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop
effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Long
Island Criminal Division. Assistant
United States Attorneys Nicole Boeckmann and Michael Maffei are in charge of
the prosecution.
The Defendants:
Terrill Latney (also known as “Motis” and “Mo”)
Age: 39
Riverhead, New York
Corey Belcher (also known as “Dot”)
Age: 34
Riverhead, New York
Willie Belcher (also known as “Thug”)
Age: 33
Flanders, New York
JImmy Dean (also known as “Jim Dick”)
Age: 41
Calverton, New York
Roger Foster (also known as “RJ” and “YG”)
Age: 22
Baiting Hollow, New York
Eric Ross (also known as “Smurks”)
Age: 27
Flanders, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 18-CR-606 (S-2) (JS)
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