GRAND JURY INDICTS ALLEGED MEMBERS OF THE VIOLENT ‘TREYSIDE GANG’ ON CHARGES OF CONSPIRACY TO SELL AND DISTRIBUTE HEROIN AND COCAINE IN AND AROUND THE DIEGO BEEKMAN HOUSES

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced today the arrests and indictment of twenty-eight alleged members and associates of The Treyside Bloods on charges of conspiracy to sell and distribute narcotics, as well as assault, attempted assault, and weapons possession in and around the Diego-Beekman Houses.

The charges were the result of a year long joint investigation by the Bronx DA’s Gang Unit and the New York City Police Department’s Bronx Gang Squad. The investigation began in November 2004 and involved more than 30 drug sales to undercover detectives, visual surveillance and the use of court ordered wiretaps. Six of the twenty-eight defendants indicted were already in custody when detectives executed arrest warrants pursuant to the grand jury’s action. In addition to those defendants under indictment, detectives arrested three other people during the execution of search warrants issued by the court in connection with this investigation.

Mr. Johnson said: “These defendants allegedly attempted to fill the void created by prior investigations that shut down drug dealing operations at Diego-Beekman twice in the last ten years. We hope that these charges against yet another new crop of alleged ‘drug dealing wannabes’ sends a reassuring message to the community that we in law enforcement will be back again and again, if necessary.”

Commissioner Kelly said: “Our officers conducted a painstaking investigation. Thanks to their thoroughness over the past year, the entire operation - from the boss to street dealers - was removed in one day. Congratulations to the members of the Gang Division for their terrific work.”

The gang, according to investigators, earned more than $1,500,000 a year from street level drug sales in a 24 square block area bounded by St. Mary’s Park on the north, East 138th Street on the south, St Ann’s Avenue on the west and Jackson Avenue on the east. The overwhelming majority of the drug transactions occurred in the Diego-Beekman Houses, a complex of approximately 30 buildings in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. The gang peddled heroin and crack cocaine under numerous different brand names including G-Unit, Shaft, Paradise, Funny Money, and Freeway. Marijuana was also sold in small quantities.

The indictments charge the defendants with Conspiracy in the 2nd and 4th degrees, Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the 2nd and 3rd degrees, Criminal Sale of Marijuana in the 5th degree, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd and 4th degrees, Unlawful Possession of Marijuana, Assault in the 1st and 2nd degrees, Attempted Assault in the 1st and 2nd degrees, and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th degrees.

Dwayne Thompson, 31, (aka Dime) of 805 East 213th Street, the Bronx, has been identified as the “key player” in the Treyside organization and is facing up to 62 years imprisonment if convicted of all of the most serious charges against him, which includes one Class A-II and four Class B felony drug sales.

Most of the other defendants, including Thompson’s alleged partners Bryant Lee, 30, (aka Pretty B) and Victor Baker, 28, are facing maximum sentences of up to 25 years imprisonment if convicted of either Conspiracy in the 2nd degree or Assault in the 1st degree. Class B felony drug offenses are punishable by a maximum sentence of up to 12 years imprisonment on each count.

Joshua Fortune, 19, of 348 Beekman Avenue, believed to be a Treyside Bloods ‘enforcer’ and one of the main dealers at Diego-Beekman has also been charged with shooting two people on December 27, 2003 as they stood on a corner at Cypress Avenue and East 141st Street. In another incident of violence, the grand jury charged three alleged gang members with “acting in concert” in the stabbing of a Diego-Beekman resident on January 17, 2005. Charged in the stabbing were Delvin Lay, 22, of 685 East 140th Street, Hassan Mitchell, 25, of 354 Cypress Avenue, and Frank Blair, 21, of 600 East 141st Street. The indictment also charges alleged gang member Steven Curet, of being on the street in possession of a loaded gun on at least two separate occasions on July 19, 2004 and November 29, 2004. Curet is currently incarcerated having pled guilty earlier this year in connection with his role in the January 17th stabbing incident.

Undercover detectives, during the course of the investigation, purchased several hundred vials of crack cocaine and glassine envelopes containing heroin and cocaine in powder form. Investigators seized additional contraband during today’s execution of the arrest and search warrants. Recovered were a loaded .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol, a loaded P85 Ruger handgun, an imitation pistol, approximately 25 grams of crack cocaine, 64 vials or bags containing crack cocaine, 7 bags of powder cocaine, 15 glassine envelopes containing heroin, over an ounce of marijuana, drug paraphernalia including scales and packaging items, and more than $10,000 in cash.

District Attorney Johnson and Commissioner Kelly thanked the NYPD Bronx Gang Squad, Bronx DA’s Squad, the 40th Precinct Detective Squad, NYPD Bronx Narcotics, PSA-7, New York State Division of Parole, Bronx DA Gang Prosecutions Unit, and Bronx DA Detective Investigators for the hard work and dedication that led to the indictment of these defendants.

The case is assigned to Assistant District Attorney Edward Friedenthal, Counsel to the Gang Prosecutions/ Major Case Unit, Assistant District Attorneys Christiana Stover and Kimberly Baker of the Gang Prosecutions/ Major Case Unit.