Three Brick Squad Gang Members Sentenced to Up to Life in Prison Following Convictions in Connection to Murder and Conspiracy Charges

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Three Brick Squad Gang Members Sentenced to Up to Life in Prison Following Convictions in Connection to Murder and Conspiracy Charges

Six Co-Defendants Who Pleaded Guilty to Felony Conspiracies Sentenced to Prison Time

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that nine members of the Brick Squad street gang who were variously charged in an indictment with conspiracy to commit murder, sell narcotics and commit other crimes have been convicted of felonies and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Three defendants were sentenced to up to life in prison.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, "These sentences send an unequivocal message: violent gang activity and the destruction it causes will be met with serious consequences in Brooklyn. These gang members terrorized our neighborhoods, peddled narcotics, and committed heinous acts of violence, including the senseless murders of two individuals. My office, working alongside the NYPD, is committed to dismantling the small but dangerous groups responsible for most of the violence in our communities. We will continue to pursue justice for victims and ensure the safety of all Brooklyn residents by holding violent offenders fully accountable."

The District Attorney said that high-ranking gang member Christopher Garcia, 26, of Brooklyn, was sentenced to up to a minimum of 41 2/3 years to life in prison by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice John Hecht on September 4, 2024. He was convicted of second-degree murder, second- and fourth-degree conspiracy and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Co-defendants Quazeer Farmer, 25, of Brooklyn, and Jashaun Washington, 24, of Brooklyn, were sentenced today by Justice Hecht to. Farmer, who was convicted of second-degree murder and second- and fourth-degree conspiracy, was sentenced to 30 2/3 years to life in prison and Washington, who was convicted of second-degree murder and second- and fourth-degree conspiracy, was sentenced to 27 2/3 years to life in prison.

All three defendants were convicted in July 2024 following a two-jury trial before Justice Hecht. Six co-defendants named in the same indictment variously pleaded guilty to conspiracies to commit crimes and other charges (see defendant addendum). A seventh defendant died while awaiting trial.

The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, the defendants are members of a violent street gang known as Brick Squad, a.k.a., Immortal Stone Gorilla Gang (ISGG), a subset of the larger Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation (UGSN). UGSN is a subset of the Bloods. Brick Squad operated within the confines of the 73^rd, 75^th, 79^th, and 84^th Precincts, but also expanded its narcotics distribution to jurisdictions outside New York City including Binghamton, New York and Bangor, Maine.

Between March 2017 and December 11, 2019, Brick Squad members engaged in violence to establish geographic dominance and enforce the laws and tenets of the gang. During the course of the conspiracy the defendants sought to establish and enforce a set of rules and hierarchy within their own ranks and make money for the organization through criminal activity, primarily selling heroin, crack cocaine and marijuana. To achieve those goals, some Brick Squad members participated in violent criminal acts, including murder and shootings.

Brick Squad members committed two murders during the course of the conspiracy:

• On December 7, 2017, at approximately 3:25 a.m., in front of 601 Bainbridge Street in Ocean Hill, Brooklyn, Jashaun Washington, acting in concert with Christopher Garcia, shot and killed a fellow Brick Squad member, John Fernandez, who they mistakenly believed was cooperating with law enforcement and who was also faulted for not making enough money for the gang. Washington ambushed the victim, whose murder was ordered by Garcia, after returning from selling drugs in Bangor, Maine. Washington and Garcia were convicted at trial of second-degree murder for the shooting death of Fernandez.
• On April 18, 2018, at approximately 8:36 p.m., in front of 175 Hart Street, in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Quazeer Farmer, acting in concert with Markel Pender, shot and killed rival Claudell Gary in the culmination of a year-long feud between a Gary family member and Brick Squad members from the same Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. The victim was shot multiple times from behind at point-blank range. Pender pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and Farmer was convicted at trial of second-degree murder.+

During the course of the conspiracy, incarcerated Brick Squad members, including ringleader Howard Smith, a.k.a., Hamo or The Godfather, Markel Pender, Lee Kennedy, and others communicated with non-incarcerated members in prison phone calls to keep up to date on the status of members or to encourage violent acts. Furthermore, it was part of the conspiracy for Brick Squad members to make money for the organization through criminal acts including selling narcotics. The narcotics distribution was based in Brooklyn but expanded to other jurisdictions, including Bangor, Maine and Binghamton, New York.

Proceeds of the narcotics sales were distributed among the high-ranking incarcerated members in the form of frequent deposits from some of the defendants to the incarcerated defendants prison commissary accounts, e.g., as of September 2019 Howard Smith had over $19,000 in his personal prison commissary account and Markel Pender had over $8,000.

The investigation was conducted by New York City Police Department Detectives from the Gun Violence Suppression Division, Brooklyn North Homicide Squad, as well as the 73^rd and 79^th Precinct Detective Squads. Detective Douglas Rome of the Gun Violence Suppression Division led the investigation.

The District Attorney thanked Senior Assistant District Attorney Jhounelle Cunningham of the Homicide Bureau, Assistant District Attorney Sara Kurtzberg, Chief of the Bureau of Litigation Technology, Alexandra Aber, Chief Analyst of the Digital Evidence Lab, and Paralegal Harline Aimable, of the Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, for their assistance on the case.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorneys Nicholas Ford and Fabiola Marrufo, of the District Attorney's Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Alfred De Ingeniis, Bureau Chief.

DEFENDANT ADDENDUM:

1. Lee Kennedy, 35, of Brooklyn. Pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy and sentenced to 4½ to nine years in prison.
2. Stephan Khadu [abated by death]
3. Andrew Marquis, 26, of Staten Island. Pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy, second-degree attempted murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and sentenced to six years in prison.
4. Jerome Noble, 35, of Brooklyn. Pleaded guilty to fourth-degree conspiracy and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and sentenced to five years in prison.
5. Markel Pender, 31, of Brooklyn. Pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and sentenced to 12 years in prison and five years' post-release supervision.
6. Howard Smith, 54, of Brooklyn. Pleaded guilty to fourth-degree conspiracy and sentenced to two to four years in prison.
7. Dayshawn Speed, 33, of Brooklyn. Pleaded guilty to fourth-degree conspiracy and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and sentenced to five years in prison.

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