Member Of Bloods Gang Sentenced To 101 Months In Prison For Drug Trafficking And Firearms Offenses

Earlier today, Justin Smith, a Bloods gang member, was sentenced to 101 months imprisonment by United States District Judge I. Leo Glasser for his role in leading an illegal drug distribution operation in Brooklyn and carrying multiple firearms to further his drug distribution activities.

The sentence was announced by Bridget M. Rohde, Acting 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).

“Justin Smith, a gang member and convicted drug dealer who regularly kept and carried illegal firearms to protect his criminal organization, used an apartment in Wyckoff Gardens as a base of operations to sell crack and heroin, putting the residents of that community at great risk. This office, together with its law enforcement partners, will work tirelessly to address this type of dangerous conduct,” stated Acting United States Attorney Rohde.  Ms. Rohde extended her grateful appreciation to the FBI and thanked the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for their assistance on the investigation. 

The defendant was sentenced following his conviction after a guilty plea on October 28, 2016 to multiple counts of illegal drug distribution and firearm offenses, including possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.  Between September 2013 and April 2015, the defendant conspired to possess and distribute illegal narcotics in and around two New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) housing developments known as the Gowanus Houses and Wyckoff Gardens, located in the Boerum Hill neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. 

On or about June 18, 2014, NYPD officers entered Smith’s stash house at 185 Nevins Street in Brooklyn, and discovered him with illegal drugs, ammunition, and a firearm.  The officers recovered: 80 plastic bags containing crack cocaine, 51 glassine envelopes containing heroin and two containing a mixture of heroin and cocaine, 1,250 small plastic bags used to package crack cocaine for distribution, 212 empty glassine envelopes used to package heroin for distribution, $1,018 in cash, and a digital kitchen scale used to weigh narcotics.  Additionally, they recovered nine rounds of .45 caliber ammunition, a box containing 31 rounds of 9mm ammunition, and a stolen black 9mm caliber semiautomatic handgun.  The evidence also established that the defendant possessed crack and heroin, as well as firearms, on multiple other occasions in and around Brooklyn.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Craig R. Heeren and Michael P. Robotti are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendant:

JUSTIN SMITH
Age: 23
Brooklyn, New York

E.D.N.Y Docket No. 15-CR-466 (ILG)