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Press Release

Member of 5-9 Brims Street Gang Sentenced to Life in Prison for Retaliatory Gang Murder

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York
Defendant Shot and Killed Victim in Broad Daylight in a Residential Brooklyn Neighborhood

Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Marvin Pippins, also known as “Mukk,” was sentenced by United States District Judge Pamela K. Chen to life imprisonment for murdering a rival gang member by shooting at him six times.  Following a three-week trial in April 2023, Pippins was convicted by a federal jury of racketeering conspiracy, murder conspiracy, murder in-aid-of racketeering, drug conspiracy and related firearms charges.  Pippins was also sentenced today to a concurrent term of 30 years for racketeering conspiracy and to a consecutive term of five years in prison for unlawful possession of a firearm, among other things.

Carolyn Pokorny, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the sentence.

“Marvin Pippins will deservedly spend the rest of his life in prison for this cold-blooded murder, undertaken in service of a years-long gang war,” stated Acting United States Attorney Pokorny. “Pippins committed predatory and deadly crimes on behalf of a violent street gang that, for years, polluted the streets with drugs, preyed on unsuspecting victims of financial fraud and subjected rivals and innocent civilians alike to acts of violence.  My Office is focused on dismantling violent criminal organizations, and today’s sentence should send a message that the most serious of crimes will be met with the most serious of consequences.”

Ms. Pokorny expressed her appreciation to the New York City Police Department for their outstanding work on this investigation.

“In 2015, Marvin Pippins, a 5-9 Brims gang member, ruthlessly murdered a rival associate in a twisted attempt to restore the gang’s honor and thwart future attacks,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy.  “Pippins’ myriad of crimes strengthened the gang’s presence across Brooklyn and fueled persisting territorial disputes. May today’s lifelong sentence reflect the FBI’s renowned commitment to disrupting all criminal enterprises plaguing our city with violence and illicit substances.”

Between 2012 and 2020, Pippins was a member of the 5-9 Brims—a violent set of the Bloods street gang, responsible for sophisticated fraud schemes, prolific narcotics trafficking and violent crimes, including gunpoint robberies, shootings and murders. This crew of 5-9 Brims was also known as “Breadgang.” Pippins and his fellow members operated principally in and around the Marlboro Houses in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn.   Pippins personally engaged in a broad array of criminal activity and earned a reputation as a “shooter” and as someone who generated money for the gang.  He participated in financial fraud on behalf of the gang, sold drugs and carried guns to protect the gang’s criminal rackets. Pippins was also convicted of several crimes related to the gang’s violent rivalry with “Real Ryte,” a Canarsie-based rival crew.  In September 2015, the defendant’s brother Melvin Pippins, also known as “Melly,” was murdered. The defendant and his fellow gang members blamed Real Ryte for the murder, and there was an “expectation” that members of the 5-9 Brims would retaliate against Real Ryte with violence. On December 19, 2015, Pippins murdered Sean Peart, a member of Real Ryte, while the victim was alone and unarmed in his parked car on Dean Street outside the Weeksville Gardens housing development.  Peart tried to speed away but crashed his car before succumbing to his injuries.  After the murder, Pippins bragged to fellow members and associates of the gang admitting that he “did boy dirty.”  In rap lyrics, the defendant described Peart’s murder in detail, including references to the victim “hanging out the window” and giving him “shot after shot.”

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section. Assistant United States  Attorneys Lindsey R. Oken and Dana Rehnquist are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Assistant United States Attorneys Nicholas J. Moscow and Drew G. Rolle.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

The Defendant:

MARVIN PIPPINS (also known as “Mukk”)
Age: 34
Brooklyn, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 19-CR-378 (PKC)

Contact

John Marzulli
Danielle Blustein Hass                            
United States Attorney’s Office
(718) 254-6323

Updated January 21, 2025

Topics
Project Safe Neighborhoods
Firearms Offenses
Violent Crime