ICE HSI investigation leads to arrests of members of rival Bronx street gangs for murder, narcotics and firearms offenses

NEW YORK — Members of rival street gangs were arrested Wednesday on various narcotics and firearms charges, including two murders. The arrests stem from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York City Police Department (NYPD), and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

“Members of the Taylor Avenue and Leland Avenue Crews allegedly wreaked havoc on the community through the sale of crack cocaine and a wave of violence on the streets of the Bronx,” stated U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. “On two occasions, that violence allegedly ended in the murders of rival gang members.”

HSI, DEA and NYPD officers arrested 17 members and associates of the Taylor Avenue Crew and Leland Avenue Crew: James Capers, 22, Tommy Brown, 20, Jesse Irvin, 24, Edwin Moye, 24, Unique Christopher, 19, Dante Rodgers, 21, Irvin Ortiz, 27, Elijah Davila, 23, Ricardo Garcia, 24, Pablo Chevere, 32, Gladys Morales, 34, Kenneth Mercado, 25, and Andrea Bell, 41. Four of the defendants, Marquise Rochester, 23, Christian McKnight, 22, Samuel Serrano, 22, and Messiah Perry, 22, are currently incarcerated in state custody on other charges, and will be presented to a federal judge at a later date. 

The Taylor Avenue Crew was a criminal enterprise that operated principally in and around the Bronx, New York, from at least 2012 up to and including 2015.  One of the Taylor Avenue Crew’s principal objectives was to sell cocaine base, commonly known as “crack cocaine,” primarily in and around Taylor Avenue in the Bronx.  The Taylor Avenue Crew controlled crack cocaine sales within this area by prohibiting and preventing non-members, outsiders, and rival narcotics dealers from distributing crack cocaine in the area controlled by the enterprise.

Members and associates of the Taylor Avenue Crew engaged in acts of violence against the Leland Avenue Crew, a rival gang that sold crack cocaine primarily in and around Leland Avenue, which runs parallel to Taylor Avenue and is located two blocks east.  These acts of violence included assaults, attempted murder, and murder, and were committed to protect the Taylor Avenue Crew’s drug territory, to retaliate against members of rival gangs who had encroached on the territory controlled by the Taylor Avenue Crew, and to otherwise promote the standing and reputation of the Taylor Avenue Crew amongst rival gangs.

The violence perpetrated by the Taylor Avenue Crew turned deadly in March 2015.  On or about March 3, 2015, Elijah Davilla and Allen McQueen, a now deceased member of the Taylor Avenue Crew, murdered Pablo Beard, a member of the Leland Avenue Crew, by shooting Beard in the vicinity of 1512 Leland Avenue in the Bronx. 

The Leland Avenue Crew was a criminal enterprise that operated principally in and around the Bronx, New York, from at least 2012 up to and including 2015.  One of the principal objectives of the Leland Avenue Crew was to sell crack cocaine, primarily in and around Leland Avenue in the Bronx.  Members and associates of the Leland Avenue Crew engaged in acts of violence against the Taylor Avenue Crew.  These acts of violence included assaults, attempted murder, and murder intended either to protect the Leland Avenue Crew’s drug territory, retaliate against members of rival gangs who had encroached on the territory controlled by the Leland Avenue Crew, or to otherwise promote the standing and reputation of the Leland Avenue Crew among rival gangs.

The violence perpetrated by the Leland Avenue Crew also turned deadly in July 2015.  On or about July 7, 2015, James Capers murdered Allen McQueen, a member of the Taylor Avenue Crew, by shooting McQueen in the vicinity of 1531 Taylor Avenue in the Bronx.  As alleged in the Capers Indictment, Capers committed this murder to maintain and increase his position in the Leland Avenue Crew.