DISTRICT ATTORNEY - NEW YORK COUNTY

NEWS RELEASE
July 7, 2009

Contact: Alicia Maxey Greene
212-335-9400

Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau today announced the indictment of 19 members of the Trinitarios street gang for conspiracy and cocaine trafficking in Washington Heights; another gang member is separately charged as a juvenile in Family Court. Three other individuals are charged with supplying cocaine to the gang.

The indictment leading to today’s charges revealed that the members and associates of the Trinitarios gang controlled the distribution of retail and wholesale quantities of cocaine to street customers, and to other narcotics dealers from around the city, on West 171st Street between Amsterdam and Audubon Avenues. In addition to incorporating related drug activity, the conspiracy charges also accuse various defendants of possessing weapons in and around their West 171st Street turf, including a semi-automatic handgun and other assorted weapons. In all, the indictment covers more than 50 drug- and weapon-related criminal offenses dating back to December 2007. The crimes charged in the indictment occurred between December 5, 2007 and July 3, 2009.

Beginning last night and continuing through this morning, nearly 100 law enforcement officers, including members of the New York City Police Department and the New Jersey State Police, have been making arrests in connection with the indictment and investigation, primarily in Washington Heights and in Hudson County, New Jersey. A total of 17 defendants are in custody, while 6 are still being sought for arrest and prosecution.

Today’s indictment was the culmination of an investigation into cocaine distribution and related crimes by Trinitarios gang members commenced in October 2007 and was conducted jointly by the New York City Police Department’s Gang Division Citywide Major Case Squad and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Firearms Trafficking Unit. The Trinitarios, or “Trinis” (TRIN-nees) as they are commonly known, was formed as a New York City prison gang and consolidated other smaller gangs. The Trinitarios members continued their gang activities upon being released from jail, and recruited additional members from the street, transforming the Trinitarios into as much of a street gang as a prison gang.

The investigation revealed that Trinitarios members sold cocaine primarily in front and inside of residential apartment buildings on West 171st Street, visibly wore green—the Trinitarios’ signature color—clothing and accessories and gathered en masse, flashing the gang’s hand sign, to mark its territory.

The investigation further revealed that in their drug distribution activities, gang members would frequently negotiate price and quantity on the street and then bring their customers inside apartment buildings to complete a cocaine-for-cash exchange. In doing so, the gang took over the main public spaces in and around these residential buildings, including stoops, stairwells, lobbies, doorways, hallways and basements. In addition to local buyers, the gang’s drug customers also included residents of Long Island, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The investigation utilized undercover police officers and surveillance techniques to infiltrate street level drug selling by Trinitarios gang members.

The investigation also revealed that the gang’s dealers used a local drug distributor, FELIX LOPEZ, as one of their cocaine suppliers. Through various investigative techniques, including court-authorized eavesdropping, undercover purchases and surveillance, LOPEZ and two associates, his son, VLADIMIR LOPEZ, and a third man, DAVID GUZMAN, a/k/a “Ambeury,” have been arrested and charged in Criminal Court with multiple counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Second and Third Degrees, Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance In or Near School Grounds, as well as Conspiracy in the Second Degree.

This investigation was also a focused effort to reduce gang-related violence in Washington Heights. Beyond drug activities, Trintarios members charged today in this investigation are associated with recent and past slashings, stabbings and related violence. For example, ALFREDO MERCEDES, a/k/a “Manol” or “Red Cap,” is awaiting trial in connection with a January 31, 2009, assault on Audubon Avenue and West 171st Street, in which the victim was slashed across the face with a box cutter and received 80 stitches. Another defendant, ROBERT GIZI, was arrested by the North Bergen (New Jersey) Township Police Department on May 13, 2009 and charged (as “Robert Giz”) with attempted murder after allegedly clubbing another man in the head with a wooden bed post, causing serious head trauma to the victim. That case has been referred for indictment to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office. During the investigation, one of the subjects of the investigation, HENRY EUGENIO SANTOS, a/k/a “Airbone” or “Avion,” was shot and killed during an apparent drug transaction in Philadelphia.

The following individuals are charged in connection to this investigation (*denotes individual in custody):

*ALEXIS MENDEZ, a/k/a “Chucky,” a/k/a “Chiba,” 7/11/1987
503 West 176th Street
New York, New York

*KEILA SANTOS, a/k/a “K,” 7/31/1988
515 West 171st Street
New York, New York

*JEFFREY PICHARDO, a/k/a “Gray Hoodie,”12/23/1989
1950 Daly Avenue
Bronx, New York

ANTHONY DELGADO, 10/19/1988
550 West 172nd Street
New York, New York

*LEUDY MEJIA, a/k/a “Rubio,” a/k/a “Colored Eyes”, a/k/a “Black Jacket,” 8/21/1989
1610 University Avenue
Bronx, New York

*JEAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ, a/k/a “Black Hat,” 3/8/1990
2204 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, New York

*JOSE ALMONTE, a/k/a “Gordo,” 4/28/1986
503 West 174th Street
New York, New York

JEAN CASTRO, a/k/a “Tall,” a/k/a “Juan Castro,” 6/28/1986
436 Avenue C
Bayonne, New Jersey

*JOSE MARTINEZ, a/k/a “Sideburns,” 2/11/1992
66 Vermilyea Avenue
New York, New York

*ARIEL DELACRUZ, 8/19/1991
2184 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, New York

*ALFREDO MERCEDES, a/k/a “Manol,” a/k/a “Red Cap,” 2/11/1992
504 West 171st Street
New York, New York

*CHAYANNE GONZALEZ, 5/6/1992
565 West 171st Street
New York, New York

*DANIEL SANCHEZ, a/k/a “Aqua,” a/k/a “Chino,” 8/24/1990
500 West 171st Street
New York, New York

*IVAN NUNEZ, a/k/a “Flaco,” 10/7/1977
506 West 173rd Street
New York, New York

*VICTOR TAVAREZ, a/k/a “Black Skull Hat,” 9/22/1987
510 West 170th Street
New York, New York

ARNALDO DEJESUS, a/k/a “Fungus,” a/k/a “Gray Hoodie,” 9/25/1990
507 West 169th Street
New York, New York

*ROBERT GIZI, 11/1/1989
1629 79th Street
North Bergen, New Jersey

JOHN DOE, a/k/a “Big,” DOB unknown

JOHN DOE, a/k/a “Green Cap,” DOB unknown

While all of the indicted defendants are charged with Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a class B felony which carries a sentence of up to 9 years in prison, 10 of the indicted defendants over the age of 18 are charged also with Conspiracy in the First Degree, based on their inclusion of minors in the gang’s drug operation. The 10 defendants charged with Conspiracy in the First Degree, a class A-I felony, face up to 20 years in prison; those under the age of 18 by law could not be charged with this offense.

Defendants ALEXIS MENDEZ, KEILA SANTOS and ARNALDO DEJESUS are also charged with Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, a class A-I felony which carries up to 20 years in prison and a minimum sentence of 8 years. Defendants ALEXIS MENDEZ, KEILA SANTOS and LEUDY MEJIA are charged with Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, a class A-II felony which carries up to 10 years in prison and a minimum sentence of 3 years.

Defendants ALEXIS MENDEZ, KEILA SANTOS, JEAN CASTRO, JOSE MARTINEZ, LEUDY MEJIA, JEAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ, ALFREDO MERCEDES, DANIEL SANCHEZ, ARNALDO DEJESUS, JEFFREY PICHARDO, JOSE ALMONTE, CHAYANNE GONZALEZ, VICTOR TAVAREZ, ROBERT GIZI and two JOHN DOEs are charged also with Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance In or Near School Grounds, a class B felony which carries up to 9 years in prison, and a minimum sentence of 2 years. In addition, these defendants are charged with Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, both class B felonies which each carry up to 9 years in prison.

Mr. Morgenthau thanked the following individuals for their participation in the investigation: Inspector Robert Boyce and Deputy Inspector Michael Baldassano of the NYPD Gang Division; Sergeant Donald Mulham, Detectives Raymond Burke (lead), Elbert Villavicencio, Anthony Cutrone and Vincent Imperato of the Gang Division Citywide Major Case Squad; and the Gang Division Undercovers, Detectives and Police Officers.

Mr. Morgenthau also thanked Captain Ronald Haas, Lieutenant Patrick Johnston, Sergeants Edward England and Anthony Gonzalez, and Detectives Michael Bazerman and Richard Collazo of the Manhattan District Attorney’s NYPD Squad; Inspector Kenneth Cully and members of the NYPD Manhattan North Narcotics Boro; Deputy Inspector Joseph V. Dowling and members of the 33rd Precinct; Detective Lisa Paskewitz of the NYPD Asset Forfeiture Unit; Detective Jay Mandziuk and members of the OCCB Street Gang North, New Jersey State Police; and Manhattan DA Investigative Analysts Jeffrey Maylor and Jeannie Campbell-Urban.

Assistant District Attorney Jordan Arnold conducted the investigation, presented the case to the Grand Jury and will handle the prosecution, under the supervision of Firearms Trafficking Unit Chief Dan M. Rather and Deputy Unit Chiefs Christopher Ryan and Daniel Bayles.

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