Murder Plot Thwarted In Gang Bust Stretching To Rikers Island: DA

THE BRONX, NY — Authorities foiled a murder plot in a massive gang bust that has charged more than two dozen reputed gang members of crimes in Rikers Island and beyond, prosecutors said Wednesday. A yearlong probe spanning four agencies resulted in a range of charges against 29 alleged members of the Mac Ballas gang, from smuggling to attempted murder, the Bronx District Attorney's Office said.

Some of them allegedly set out to kill someone who fought with a jailed gang member's mom, while others stalked robbery targets on Instagram and sold crack cocaine in The Bronx, prosecutors said.

"This case illustrates the ongoing fight to dismantle the brutal criminal network which has its hub in Rikers Island, and shows how dangerous this battle can be for our law enforcement officers," Bronx DA Darcel Clark said in a statement.

Fourteen of the alleged perpetrators were arrested in the past week and nine are already in jail, but another six had not been caught as of Wednesday, Clark's office said.

Two men in the group, Donte Joe and Michael Winn, set out in late June to kill a person who'd been in an altercation with Althea Michelle Hogan, the mother of a gang member, according to prosecutors.

When they couldn't find their target in Harlem, the pair decided to go after the person's brother but got spooked by cops on patrol, prosecutors said. Authorities stopped them when they returned to The Bronx and recovered a revolver from them, according to the DA's office.

Two others, Tashawn Murray and Rodelle Murray, allegedly scanned Instagram for pictures of people wearing expensive jewelry to pick out robbery victims. The pair planned to have a woman meet one target in a hotel room last month, but investigators told the man and he did not go, the DA's office said.

On Rikers Island, reputed Mac Balla Jamar Williams allegedly ordered six other men to slash three other inmates, including two fellow Mac Ballas and one member of the notorious Trinitarios gang, prosecutors said. The latter victim suffered an eight-inch wound to his cheek that required about 26 stitches, the DA's office said.

Inmates and two women outside the jail system are accused of smuggling 30 scalpels and marijuana into two Rikers facilities and the Vernon C. Bain Center, the city's jail barge, officials said.

And some of the defendants are charged with smuggling Suboxone, a drug used to treat heroin addiciton, into an upstate prison; dealing crack cocaine; and counterfeiting money, prosecutors said.

"This investigation and the resulting indictments send a very clear message to anyone who attempts to bring weapons, violence, and drugs into our jails," Correction Commissioner Cynthia Brann said in a statement. "You will be prosecuted if you commit crimes in custody, and if convicted you will face prison time, even if you beat the charges that originally got you here."

(Lead image: Photo from Shutterstock)