William J. Bratton, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced the unsealing today of two Indictments charging a total of 48 members and associates of two Bronx-based street gangs, the Young Gunnaz (“YGz”) and 18 Park, with various racketeering, narcotics, and firearms offenses, including three gang-related murders, and five gang-related attempted murders.
The YGz was a criminal enterprise that operated mainly in and around several housing developments in the Bronx, New York, from 2005 through December 2015. Members and associates of the YGz enriched themselves by committing robberies and selling drugs, such as crack cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, and engaged in acts of violence, including murder and attempted murder of rival gang members, rival drug traffickers, and innocent bystanders.
For example, on June 27, 2009, YGz members RAMEL MATTHEWS, ANTHONY SCOTT, and HASWANI TYSON attempted to commit a gunpoint robbery near the Mott Haven Houses in the Bronx, and in the course of this attempted robbery, SCOTT shot and killed Darrel Ledgister, who was 21 years old.
More recently, on April 16, 2012, a large group of YGz members, including WENDELL BELLE and WILLIAM BRACEY, stomped to death Moises Lora a/k/a “Noah,” a 16-year-old associate of a rival gang, in a courtyard in the Melrose Houses in the Bronx.
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