Driver In Cabbie's Drive-By Killing Pleads Guilty To Conspiracy Charge

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — A Spring Valley man dodged a murder charge, pleading guilty to felony conspiracy in the 2017 drive-by shooting of cab driver Rem Louis.

Hakeem Gentles was arrested in 2017 by Ramapo police after Louis was shot in Hillcrest and died of his injuries several days later. Gentles was accused of driving the Toyota Camry that pulled up next to Louis. The shooter was targeting one of his passengers but hit Louis in the head.

In a deal negotiated with the DA's Office, Gentles pleaded guilty to fourth-degree conspiracy, a felony and was sentenced to 1.5 - 3 years in state prison.

"The homicide case was going to be difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, mainly because the eyewitness was no longer cooperative with our office and actively made himself unavailable to testify. If the shooter is ever identified, we stand ready to proceed," said Scott Waters, Rockland County District Attorney's Office Public Information Officer.

Gentles had already entered an admission to violating probation (he was convicted for third-degree robbery in 2016) and will be serving one year for that. Both sentences will be concurrent to each other and the sentence he received in New Jersey after an incident in 2021.

According to Bergen County prosecutors, Gentles, then 26, crashed his car in a Montvale homeowner's front yard while driving drunk, then grabbed a black Luis Vuitton bag filled with cash and a loaded gun, ran off and called his mother to come pick him up.

A police officer called to that scene found a woman making a U-turn near a gas station, saw a man with a black bag running toward her, chased him through the gas station parking lot and caught him when he tried and failed to hurdle a guardrail. The woman driver admitted she was Gentles' mother and had been called to pick him up, police said.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon (no permit), and was sentenced to five years in New Jersey State Prison with 42 months of parole ineligibility. He was ordered to forfeit $5,202, plus additional fines. He was also found guilty of DWI and received the fines and penalties associated with that charge, Elizabeth Rebein Assistant Prosecutor and Public Information Officer in the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, told Patch.

SEE: Armed Rockland Murder Suspect Crashes, Calls Mom For Ride: NJ DA