BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Aaron Hicks, a/k/a Boog, a/k/a Boogy, 34, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to distribute marijuana, was sentenced to serve 30 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. In addition, Judge Arcara ordered the defendant to forfeit $10,400,000 in proceeds from illegal drug trafficking activity.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Parisi and Wei Xiang, who handled the prosecution of the case, stated that Hicks was a member of the Schuele Boys Gang which operated in the Schuele Street area of the East Side of Buffalo. The gang is believed to be responsible for multiple acts of violence and the distribution of illegal narcotics including cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana.
As a member, the defendant was the Buffalo-based main point of contact for the gang’s cocaine and marijuana supplier, Julio Contreras of McAllen, Texas. Hicks’s co-defendant, Roderick Arrington, was previously convicted following a jury trial in 2017 of the shooting murder of Quincy Balance, a/k/a Shooter, at the intersection of Northland and Stevens in Buffalo on August 30, 2012. Hicks, Arrington, and other Schuele Boys members believed that Balance was involved in the shooting murder of one of their associates on nearby Carl Street four days earlier. Arrington was sentenced to life in prison for murder in aid of racketeering.
“This defendant is the last, of more than two dozen individuals, to be sentenced in our prosecution of a violent street gang that terrorized the East Side of Buffalo and its citizens for a number of years, “ said U.S. Attorney Kennedy. “Our office is determined to bring the leaders, members, and associates of these street gangs to justice. We realize that these gangs spread something much more ruinous to our communities than large amounts of drugs and countless acts of violence. These gangs spread despair. By taking them on, we hope to restore the community’s faith not only in the rule of law but in the possibility for a more productive and positive future.”
Hicks is one of 28 Schuele Boys Gang members and associates to be charged and convicted in this case and the final defendant to be sentenced.
Today’s sentencing is the result of an investigation by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert; the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Byron Lockwood; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan, New York Field Division; and the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Edward Kennedy. Additional assistance was provided by the Erie County District Attorney’s Office, the Edinboro University Police Department in Pennsylvania, the West Tennessee Judicial Drug Task Force, the City of McAllen, Texas Police Department, HSI Harlingen, Texas, and the FBI offices in Houston, Texas and Jackson, Mississippi.
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CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- One year ago, the Department of Justice announced the revitalization and enhancement of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which Attorney General Sessions has made the centerpiece of the Department’s violent crime reduction strategy. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
Throughout the past year, the United States Attorneys Office and our federal partners have teamed up with all levels of law enforcement, local organizations, and members of the community to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.
“Project Safe Neighborhoods is a proven program with demonstrated results,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. “We know that the most effective strategy to reduce violent crime is based on sound policing policies that have proven effective over many years, which includes being targeted and responsive to community needs. I have empowered our United States Attorneys to focus enforcement efforts against the most violent criminals in their districts, and directed that they work together with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and community partners to develop tailored solutions to the unique violent crime problems they face. Each United States Attorney has prioritized the PSN program, and I am confident that it will continue to reduce crime, save lives, and restore safety to our communities.”
“Here in Western New York, our PSN initiative has focused on the most violent areas within our largest population centers—the Cities of Buffalo, Rochester, and Niagara Falls,” stated U.S. Attorney Kennedy. “In each instance, we have sought to tailor the programs to the needs of the communities. While the PSN Programs in Rochester and Niagara Falls have existed for some time—in the form of Project Exile in Rochester, which this year celebrates its 20th Anniversary and is the longest running program of its kind in the country, and in the form of a dispute resolution project in Niagara Falls—the PSN program in Buffalo is new this year.”
Working collaboratively with our partners at the federal, state and local levels, we have identified the “C” and “E” Police Districts in the City of Buffalo as neighborhoods with higher incidents of violent crime. As a result, those Police Districts have been established as Project Safe Neighborhood areas of focus. Working closely with Erie County District Attorney John Flynn and Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood, we have developed a process to identify potential federal cases involving firearms, including illegal possession and shootings. In addition, our Assistant United States Attorneys have conducted training of BPD Officers in those Districts regarding the enforcement and prosecution of federal gun crimes.
In the near future, we hope, working with the Buffalo Police Department, and all our partners, to start up a joint federal, state, and local non-fatal shooting task force to focus on violent gun crime in those target areas. Our goal is to identify defendants in non-fatal shooting crimes and remove them from the streets in order to prevent shooting fatalities in the future. By providing such assistance it is anticipated that the solve rates in all shootings, both fatal and non-fatal with be increased.
As we celebrate the one-year anniversary of the revitalized PSN program, here are some of the highlights of our PSN actions over the past year:
Enforcement Actions
• On September 7, 2018, Thamud Eldridge, 44, a/k/a Damu, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted following a seven-week jury trial of multiple RICO, drug, and gun charges, was sentenced to serve 50 years in prison. The defendant was a member of a gang that specialized in targeting and then robbing drug dealers in and around the City of Buffalo, intending to steal their illegal drugs, money, and jewelry. Read more at: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdny/pr/buffalo-man-sentenced-50-years-federal-prison-following-rico-conviction.
• On August 30, 2018, 12 members/associates of the CBL/BFL gang were indicted and charged with crimes which included: murder and assault in aid of racketeering, racketeering and narcotics conspiracy, and gun possession. Read more at: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdny/pr/12-membersassociates-cblbfl-gang-indicted-charged-murder-and-assault-aid-racketeering.
• On December 20, 2017, Roderick Arrington, a/k/a Ra-Ra, 37, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted following a jury trial of racketeering conspiracy, murder-in-aid-of-racketeering, and related charges, was sentenced consecutive sentences of life in prison. The defendant, a Schuele Boys Gang member, was also sentenced to 30 years in prison on two other firearm charges. Read more at: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdny/pr/schuele-shooter-sentenced-life-prison.
• On August 29, 2017, Christian O. Dalmau, 31, of Bronx, NY, who was convicted of possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance, was sentenced to 120 months in prison. Subsequently, on May 16, 2018, Dalmau was indicted by the Eastern District of New York on multiple charges including use of firearms in connection with a drug trafficking crime, murder while engaged in narcotics trafficking offense, and causing death through use of a firearm. Read more at: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdny/pr/bronx-man-sentenced-gun-charge.
Community Partnerships
• On September 19, 2018, U.S. Attorney Kennedy, DA Flynn, BPD Commissioner Lockwood and local elected officials met with the Concerned Clergy Coalition of Western New York to discuss recent violence in the city and what local clergy members can do to assist. Clergy members pledged to deliver to their congregations the message of how important it is, if they are truly interested in breaking the cycle of violence in their community, to stand up, come-forward, cooperate with law enforcement, and report criminal conduct. Moreover, the clergy agreed to raise funding for witness protection. Attendees also agreed to meet on a regular basis to continue the dialogue.
• On August 8, 2018, at the request of City of Buffalo officials, U.S. Attorney Kennedy gathered agency heads from a variety of federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, DEA, ATF, and HSI, to meet with Buffalo Police Commissioner Lockwood and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown to discuss how federal law enforcement can help to reduce the violence that occurred in the City of Buffalo over the summer. The leaders strategized efforts to address the violence and encourage more cooperation from the public in solving the most violent of crimes.
• On March 15, 2018, U.S. Attorney Kennedy led the annual notification session in partnership with the Buffalo Police Department. Such sessions, in an effort to reduce recidivism, bring together members of federal and local law enforcement agencies, parole and probation, and clergy and community leaders, to share a message of encouragement and hope with a group defendants recently placed on probation or parole.
• U.S. Attorney Kennedy regularly participates in the Justice Report, a 30-minute program on Buffalo Public Access Television that highlights the workings of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The goal is to create awareness and educate the public about the work done by the USAO and the ways in which community members can assist in those efforts.
Improvements to Community Safety
Both nationally and locally, these efforts are producing results.
Nationally, the FBI’s official crime data for 2017 reflects that, after two consecutive, historic increases in violent crime, in the first year of the Trump Administration the nationwide violent crime rate began to decline. The nationwide violent crime rate decreased by approximately one percent in 2017, while the nationwide homicide rate decreased by nearly one and a half percent.
The preliminary information we have for 2018 gives us reason for optimism that our efforts are continuing to pay off. Public data from 60 major cities show that violent crime was down by nearly five percent in those cities in the first six months of 2018 compared to the same period a year ago.
Locally, the most recent statistics from the Erie Crime Analysis Center show that across the City of Buffalo violent crimes such as rape, robbery, and assault, were down 10.3% last year compared to the average of the previous five years. Moreover, within the designated PSN area (C and E Districts), firearm crimes were down 18.6% last year compared to the average of the previous five years, while illegal gun arrests in that same area were up 12.6% last year compared to previous year.
“If you think about gun violence, every gun crime really has 2 basic components: (1) an available gun; and (2) someone with the will to use it to shoot someone else,” added U.S. Attorney Kennedy. “With the latest estimates putting the number of guns in the United States at anywhere from 270 million to 310 million—a gun for nearly every man, woman, and child in our country—the simple truth is that regardless of how you may feel about gun control and the 2nd Amendment, guns are, and will remain, ubiquitous in American society. With a ready supply of available guns, then the only realistic way to reduce gun violence is to reduce the number of people who are doing violence with guns. That is, if we want to get rid of gun violence, we’ve got to get rid of the people who are willing to do violence with guns. One way to get rid of them is to arrest them and incarcerate them. That is our traditional role as prosecutors and law enforcers; we hold people accountable for their actions. The other way to get rid of people who are willing to do violence with guns is to change them. While accountability may be one way to change people, by sending the message of deterrence that certain consequences (incarceration) will flow from the commission of a certain action (using a gun for violence), it is not the only way. The community, and everyone in it, must also do our part to try to change the hearts and minds of those who might be inclined to use guns for criminal purposes—to show them a better way. In our District, we have designed our PSN initiative to employ both of these methods to ‘get rid of’ those who are willing to do violence with guns.”
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CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Schuele Boys Gang member Letorrance Travis, 30, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine, was sentenced to serve 120 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Wei Xiang and Paul C. Parisi, who are handling the case, stated that beginning in 2010, and continuing until February 24, 2015, the defendant conspired with other Schuele Boys Gang members and associates to sell illegal narcotics. The Schuele Boys Gang, which operated in the Schuele Street area of the East Side of Buffalo, is believed to be responsible for multiple acts of violence and the distribution of illegal narcotics including cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana.
Travis met with, obtained cocaine shipments from, and delivered cocaine payments to representatives and couriers of co-defendant Julio Contreras, who was a main drug supplier for the Schuele Boys. On November 6, 2011, law enforcement agents arrested Travis and two representatives/couriers of Contreras. Agents recovered approximately 24 kilograms of cocaine that had been delivered to or were destined for the Schuele Boys enterprise. Agents also seized approximately $170,000 in U.S. currency that were proceeds of the Schuele Boys cocaine trafficking.
Co-defendant Roderick Arrington was sentenced to serve life in prison for the murder of Quincy Balance in August 2012. Co-defendant Marcel Worthy was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison for the murder of Kevin Gray in December 2006. Co-defendants Aaron Hicks and Julio Contreras are awaiting sentencing.
Today’s sentencing is the result of an investigation by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert; the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Byron Lockwood; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division; and the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Edward Kennedy. Additional assistance was provided by the Erie County District Attorney’s Office, under the direction of District Attorney John Flynn; the Edinboro University Police Department in Pennsylvania; the West Tennessee Judicial Drug Task Force; the City of McAllen, Texas Police Department; HSI Harlingen, Texas; and the FBI offices in Houston, Texas and Jackson, Mississippi.
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Aaron Hicks, a/k/a Boog, a/k/a Boogy, 33, of Buffalo, NY, was convicted after a jury trial of racketeering conspiracy. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The defendant was convicted by a prior jury of conspiracy to distribute marijuana, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and faces a maximum aggregate of 30 years in prison when sentenced.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Parisi and Wei Xiang, who handled the prosecution of the case, stated that Hicks was a member of the Schuele Boys Gang which operated in the Schuele Street area of the East Side of Buffalo. The gang is believed to be responsible for multiple acts of violence and the distribution of illegal narcotics including cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana.
As a member, the defendant was the Buffalo-based main point of contact for the gang’s cocaine and marijuana supplier, Julio Contreras of McAllen, Texas. Hicks’s co-defendant, Roderick Arrington, was previously convicted following a jury trial in 2017 of the shooting murder of Quincy Balance, a/k/a Shooter, at the intersection of Northland and Stevens in Buffalo on August 30, 2012. Hicks, Arrington, and other Schuele Boys members believed that Balance was involved in the shooting murder of one of their associates on nearby Carl Street four days earlier. Arrington was sentenced to life in prison for murder in aid of racketeering.
“Working with our federal, state, and local partners, this office has gone on the offense against violent street gangs in Buffalo,” said U.S. Attorney Kennedy. “From the West side to the East side and from North Buffalo to South Buffalo, we are using the RICO statute systematically to dismantle these violent organizations and lock-up their members for lengthy prison sentences. We will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of these criminal enterprises, and we will not rest until those who are attracted to these gangs realize that in joining them, they are simply signing up for a spot on the losing team.”
Hicks is one of 28 Schuele Boys Gang members and associates to be charged in this case and the final defendant to be convicted.
The verdict is the result of an investigation by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin P. Lyons; the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Byron Lockwood; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division; and the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Edward Kennedy. Additional assistance was provided by the Erie County District Attorney’s Office, the Edinboro University Police Department in Pennsylvania, the West Tennessee Judicial Drug Task Force, the City of McAllen, Texas Police Department, HSI Harlingen, Texas, and the FBI offices in Houston, Texas and Jackson, Mississippi.
Sentencing is scheduled for August 6, 2018, at 12:30 p.m. before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara, who presided over the trial.
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Roderick Arrington, a/k/a Ra-Ra, 37, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted following a jury trial of racketeering conspiracy, murder-in-aid-of-racketeering, and related charges, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara to consecutive sentences of life in prison. The defendant was also sentenced to 30 years in prison on two other firearm charges.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Wei Xiang and Paul Parisi, who tried the case, stated that Arrington, a member of the Schuele Boys Gang, killed Quincy Balance, a/k/a Shooter, at the intersection of Northland and Stevens on the East Side of Buffalo on August 30, 2012. Arrington and other Schuele Boys associates believed Balance was involved in the shooting murder of one of their associates on nearby Carl Street four days earlier. Arrington exacted vengeance by shooting Balance three times as Balance pleaded that he didn’t kill the deceased associate.
The Schuele Boys Gang, which operated in the Schuele Street area of the East Side of Buffalo, was responsible for multiple acts of violence and the distribution of illegal narcotics including cocaine, crack cocaine, and marijuana. Arrington is one of 28 Schuele Boys Gang members and associates arrested in this case. To date, 27 of the 28 defendants arrested have been convicted.
“In accordance with the mandate set by President Trump and Attorney General Sessions to reduce violent crime and make our communities safer, this Office, working with our federal, state, and local partners, is methodically and systematically dismantling the gangs which have terrorized our communities and corrupted our youth for far too long,” said U.S. Attorney Kennedy. “Gang members beware, if you pull the trigger, then the bang that will ring in your ears forever will be that of the steel door slamming on the cell in the federal prison in which you will spend the rest of your life.”
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Adam S. Cohen; the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division; and the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Edward Kennedy. Additional assistance was provided by the Erie County District Attorney’s Office, under the direction of District Attorney John Flynn; the Edinboro University Police Department in Pennsylvania; the West Tennessee Judicial Drug Task Force; the City of McAllen, Texas Police Department; HSI Harlingen, Texas; and the FBI offices in Houston, Texas and Jackson, Mississippi.
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that following back-to-back jury trials completed in federal court in Buffalo late last week, two members of the Schuele Boys Gang, Aaron Hicks and Roderick Arrington, both of Buffalo, NY, were convicted of crimes arising out of their involvement with that gang. On September 25, 2017, Schuele Boys Gang member Roderick Arrington was convicted on multiple counts including RICO conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, and attempted murder in aid of racketeering. Arrington shot and killed Quincy Balance on August 30, 2012. While Arrington was originally charged together with Hicks, Hicks’s case was severed from Arrington’s, and following Arrington’s trial, another jury heard Hicks’s case and convicted him of the charge of conspiracy to distribute marijuana. Marcel Worthy, a third Schuele Boys Gang member charged with Arrington and Hicks, was also recently convicted, upon his plea of guilty, for his role in the death of 16-year-old Kevin Gray in December 2006.
In both cases, the trials were conducted and the convictions obtained by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Parisi and Wei Xiang. While the jury in Arrington’s trial acquitted him of several counts with which he was charged and the jury in Hicks’s trial acquitted Hicks of one and was unable to reach a verdict on another of the counts against him, Arrington, like Worthy, is facing a maximum possible sentence of life in prison, while Hicks is facing 10 years in prison.
The Schuele Boys Gang, which operated in the Schuele Street area of the East Side of Buffalo, was responsible for multiple acts of violence and the distribution of illegal narcotics including cocaine, crack cocaine, and marijuana. Hicks, Arrington and Worthy are three of 28 Schuele Boys Gang members and associates arrested in this case. To date, 27 of the 28 defendants arrested have been convicted.
Additionally, convicted by guilty plea was one of the gang’s major cocaine and marijuana suppliers, Julio Contreras of Mission, TX. Contreras sent millions of dollars’ worth of drugs to Buffalo, and firearms and ammunition to Mexico. On November 6, 2011, Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrested Schuele Boys member Letorrance Travis and two representatives/couriers of Contreras. Agents recovered approximately 24 kilograms of cocaine that had been delivered to or were destined for the Schuele Boys enterprise. Agents also seized approximately $170,000 in U.S. currency from 34 Crossman Avenue in Buffalo. These funds were proceeds of the Schuele Boys’ cocaine trafficking. Contreras and Travis were both convicted of racketeering conspiracy and face a maximum possible sentence of life in prison.
The verdicts are the culmination of an investigation on the part of the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Adam S. Cohen; the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division; and the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Edward Kennedy. Additional assistance was provided by the Erie County District Attorney’s Office, the Edinboro University Police Department in Pennsylvania, the West Tennessee Judicial Drug Task Force, the City of McAllen, Texas Police Department, HSI Harlingen, Texas, and the FBI offices in Houston, Texas and Jackson, Mississippi.
