Scores of alleged Manhattan gang members, caught in part through blabbing about their exploits on Facebook and Twitter, were hauled into court Thursday, many facing felonies of the highest level for conspiracy to commit murder, a rarely-used charge that could land them in prison for life without parole.
The unprecedented bust - charging 63 teens and young adults allegedly part of the "Air It Out," "Tru Money" and "Whoadey" gangs - capped a 3 1/2-year investigation by the Violent Criminal Enterprises Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney's office and the NYPD.
The accused thugs used colorful code terms like "biscuit," "thing-thing," and "girlfriend" to refer to guns. "Rock to sleep early" meant murder in their lingo, and "headshot" means what it sounds like - a gunshot to the head.
"I'm 2 Glocks strapped, rolling down 112th Madison, 116th this is the New Iraq," one defendant allegedly boasted on Facebook.
“God forgives, I don’t ... somebodie gotta die,” Alexander Carno, a gang member who was wounded, posted on his Facebook page.
That quotation was included in indictments unsealed on Thursday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan against 63 members of the three gangs. All males, they range in age from 16 to 25. All but eight of them are younger than 20. Forty-nine of them face up to life in prison on the charge of conspiracy to commit murder. The top charges against the 14 others carry sentences of up to 25 years in prison.
In late December 2009, Mr. Carno, then 16 and a member of Air It Out, was shot. Postings to his Facebook page showed a growing impatience. In July 2011, he said that his members were expected to retaliate, but instead three more of them had been shot, according to the indictment.
“Ain’t no A.I.O. till I see some blood,” he posted, according to the indictment.
Read more:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/cri...arged-sources-article-1.1307501#ixzz2onuB2c7U
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/n...gangs-indicted-in-revenge-shootings.html?_r=0