LI Bloods Member Gets Life And 22 Years For 2017 Murder, Rape

DEER PARK, NY — A Bloods gang member was sentenced in federal court Wednesday to life plus 22 years in prison after he was convicted of killing a man outside a Deer Park strip club in 2017 following a dispute over a photo, as well as forcible rape and sex trafficking of a Suffolk County woman, federal prosecutors said.

Lawrence Lewis, a.k.a. “L Boogs,” of Calverton, 41, was convicted Nov. 9, 2021, after a four-week trial of charges of racketeering, murder, sex trafficking, rape, multiple firearms offenses, narcotics possession and distribution and witness tampering, after a four-week trial in Central Islip, the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of New York announced.

He was sentenced in court in Central Islip before U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert.

Between April 2004 and June 2019, Lewis distributed large quantities of cocaine base and heroin in Suffolk County, according to trial evidence. To protect his supply of narcotics and his ability to distribute them, he had numerous guns, including an AR-15 rifle, a pistol-grip 12-gauge shotgun, a Mossberg .22 caliber rifle and a Ruger .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol.

Lewis also engaged in acts of extreme violence on behalf of the Bloods gang, prosecutors said.

In 2014, in retaliation for a theft of guns, Lewis forced a woman into prostitution until she "repaid her debt" to him. During the same period of time, Lewis forcibly raped the woman, prosecutors said.

On July 29, 2017, Lewis shot and killed John Birt, a member of the Crips gang, at the Illusions Gentlemen’s Club in Deer Park, prosecutors said. While Birt and several friends posed for pictures inside the club, Lewis and a fellow Bloods gang member approached the group. Lewis’ associate attempted to display a Bloods hand signal and Birt began arguing with Lewis, who then shot and killed him, prosecutors said.

Later, Lewis texted a number of close acquaintances about the murder, stating that he was “sleeping good” and would “do it again.”

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace commended prosecutors, federal, and local law enforcement partners for their collaborative work to arrest and prosecute Lewis.

“A mandatory life sentence is a fitting punishment for Lewis, a gang member who committed murder, rape, sex trafficking, and pushed drugs in our community,” said Peace. “Through his allegiance to the Bloods, the defendant caused considerable harm to others, and that decision has now permanently cost him his freedom.”

Patch reached out to Kevin Keating, Lewis's attorney, for comment.