7 BK Gang Members Charged With Multiple Murders, Racketeering: Feds

BROOKLYN, NY — Seven members of a Brooklyn-based street gang have been charged in connection to three murders, multiple robberies, identity-fraud schemes and racketeering that date back to 2012, according to an unsealed superseding indictment.

Three of the seven men were taken into custody and arraigned Tuesday in front of United States Magistrate Judge James R. Cho, prosecutors said. The other four men are already behind bars on unrelated charges

Martial Amilcar, Bradley Augustin, Dave Augustin, Matthew Harris, Rick Jasmin, Wisny Joseph and Richler Morette were all named in the indictment, according to prosecutors.

If convicted, Amilcar, Augustin, Dave Augustin, Jasmin, and Morette face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Harris and Joseph face prison terms of up to 20 years, prosecutors said.

The Hyena Crips a subset of the Crips street gang operates in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, prosecutors said.

Beginning in 2012, Jasmin along with other members of the gang fatally stabbed Leandre Mallinckrodt, who they mistook for a rival gang member at the annual West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn.

Seven years later, Amilcar and others killed 15-year-old Samuel Joseph in retaliation for an altercation earlier that day between Amilcar’s relative, a fellow gang member, and Joseph’s older brother, a rival gang member, prosecutors said.

Finally, in 2020, Hyena Crips leader Dave Augustin directed Morette and Augustin to retaliate against a rival gang for the non-fatal shootings of two others Hyena Crips leaders, prosecutors said.

Morette and others carried out the fatal shooting of Roodson Polynice. Polynice had gang affiliation and was killed after he was wrongly identified. Following the murder, Morette responded to a group Facebook messages about Polynice’s death and said “ “[d]on’t care who got hit” and “pic [sic] a side or get killed with them Hyenalifestyle or no life,” prosecutors said.

“For years, the Hyena Crips terrorized our community with brutal acts of violence—including murders, shootings and brazen armed-robberies—and funded their criminal activities through fraud schemes,” said United States Attorney Breon Peace. “The crimes alleged in today’s superseding indictment illustrate well the damage this gang has wrought on individuals, small businesses and the community at-large. It is my hope that today’s indictment brings some measure of solace particularly to the families of Samuel Joseph, Leandre Mallinckrodt and Roodson Polynice who were senselessly murdered.”

In addition, Augustin, Harris, Jasmin, Joseph, and Morette committed identity fraud and fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits and loans issued by the Small Business Administration for relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The five men also are accused of money laundering and are charged with the attempted armed robbery of a Caribbean Air check cashing businesses, the attempted robbery of a pharmacy, prosecutors said.