What is Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation? 18 members charged with racketeering, murder, narcotics and fraud
New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision has announced "the unsealing of a 16-Count Indictment charging 18 members of the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation Gang". Seventeen of the 18 defendants are in custody. The gang is charged with perpetrating various racketeering, murder, narcotics, firearms and fraud offenses. Brandon Soto, aka “Stacks”, is charged in the murder case of a minor in Poughkeepsie on September 21, 2020. The case is assigned to US District Judge Philip M Halpern.
The charged members face charges ranging from attempted murder and racketeering to assault. The accusations include a gang shootout in New Rochelle, the gunpoint robbery of a drug deal in Peekskill and the face slashing of a rival in Manhattan. According to the United States Department of Justice, on July 20, 2020, Stephen Hugh shot at rival gang members in New Rochelle. He did so, to maintain and increase his position in the Gorilla Stone racketeering enterprise operating in the Southern District of New York.
Naya Austin, Dezon, Washington and Jordan Ingram committed a gunpoint robbery of a rival drug dealer in Peekskill, New York on June 12, 2020. On August 28, 2018, Brinae Thornton shot at a rival gang member in Brooklyn, New York, and aided and abetted the same. While Robert Woods was charged for assaulting an individual with a dangerous weapon, and aided and abetted the same, by slashing the individual in the face on January 12, 2018. Two of the defendants are charged with filing fraudulent applications to score Covid-19 unemployment benefits, court papers allege.
“The violence and drug activity committed by these gang members threatened the safety of our communities and placed innocent lives at risk,” said FBI Assistant Director William F Sweeney Jr. “But thanks to the partnership and hard work of all law enforcement agencies involved in this investigation, we were able to stop this violent criminal organization — and show that Gorilla Stone is actually not ‘untouchable’.”
Acting US Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “As alleged in the Indictment, members of Gorilla Stone committed terrible acts of violence, trafficked in narcotics, and even engaged in brazen fraud by exploiting benefits programs meant to provide assistance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of that, communities across the Southern District – from Poughkeepsie to Peekskill to New York City – suffered. Most shocking, as alleged in the indictment, a minor was murdered in furtherance of the gang’s activities. Because of the extraordinary work of our law enforcement partners, the defendants now face federal charges for their crimes.”
The Gorilla Stone gang allegedly sold crack cocaine and marijuana in the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Westchester and used shocking acts of violence to advance their interests, according to the indictment.