Member of “G’z Up” Street Gang Convicted of Two Murders in Brooklyn

A federal jury in Brooklyn returned a guilty verdict today against Nicholas Washington, also known as “Face,” a member of the Bedford Stuyvesant-based street gang G’z Up, on two counts of murder-in-aid of racketeering, two counts of causing a death through the use of a firearm, and attempted obstruction of justice.  The verdict followed three weeks of trial before United States District Judge Eric N. Vitaliano.  When sentenced, Washington faces a mandatory term of life imprisonment.

Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the verdict.

“As the jury found, Washington planned and directed two murderous schemes related to his drug trafficking enterprise at the Marcy Houses that left two unintended victims dead,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue.  “Washington will now be held responsible for this total disregard for human life.  Today’s verdict underscores the resolve of this Office and our law enforcement partners to eradicate violent gangs that jeopardize the safety of our communities.”

The evidence at trial established that between January 2004 and December 2006, Washington and other members and associates of G’z Up sold crack cocaine at the Marcy Houses in Bedford Stuyvesant, with a base of operations at 564 Park Avenue, as well as in Monticello, New York, and Altoona, Pennsylvania.  On February 10, 2005, Washington directed two G’z Up members to kill the leader of a rival drug crew whose members were feuding with G’z Up.  Washington provided a handgun and directed the two to ambush the leader of the drug crew inside a building at the Marcy Houses development.  Both gunmen fired, but missed their intended target and killed a bystander, Steven Negron.

After Washington’s brother, John Hayes, was murdered by a rival in July 2006, Washington sought revenge.  On August 7, 2006, the day of Hayes’s funeral, Washington traveled to the Tompkins Houses in Bedford Stuyvesant with five G’z Up members and associates, where they confronted the individual they believed responsible for Hayes’s murder.  Two gunmen opened fire, but again missed their intended target, and instead killed a bystander, Andrell Napper. 

Following his indictment on the murders in 2014, Washington evaded arrest for two years and in 2016 attempted to avoid arrest by providing false information to an NYPD officer.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Margaret Gandy and Virginia Nguyen are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendant: 

NICHOLAS WASHINGTON
Age:  35
Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 14-CR-266 (ENV)