New York, NY - March 20, 2014 - Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Anthony Boykin and Justin Simmons were sentenced Tuesday in Manhattan federal court for various racketeering, murder, attempted murder, narcotics conspiracy, and firearms offenses. Boykin was sentenced to life plus 32 years in prison, and Simmons was sentenced to 50 years in prison. In June 2013, after a four-week jury trial before United States District Judge Colleen McMahon, the jury convicted Boykin and Simmons of charges arising from their involvement, from 2006 through 2013, in the criminal activities of the Bloods gang (the Newburgh Bloods)—a violent street gang that was involved in drug trafficking and multiple acts of violence, including murders and attempted murders, in Newburgh, New York. In particular, Boykin was found guilty of participating in a racketeering enterprise, participating in a racketeering conspiracy; participating in various racketeering offenses, including murder; participating in a crack-cocaine distribution conspiracy; and possessing, using, and carrying firearms; and Simmons was found guilty of participating in a racketeering conspiracy; participating in a crack cocaine distribution conspiracy; and possessing, using, and carrying firearms. They were both sentenced in Manhattan federal court by Judge McMahon.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, “The Newburgh Bloods have made victims not only of those they shot, stabbed, and killed, but also of every Newburgh resident who has had to live with the terror wrought by the gang’s legacy of drugs and violence. Anthony Boykin and Justin Simmons perpetuated the plague of violence. The sentences handed down show that if you choose to engage in drug dealing and gang violence, you will be held accountable for your actions and deprived of your liberty.”
According to the superseding indictment and evidence admitted at trial:
From 2006 through 2013, Boykin was a member, and then leader, of a racketeering enterprise—the Newburgh Bloods. As part of his participation in that enterprise, Boykin conspired to murder Lamont Young, a local marijuana dealer, which culminated in Young’s murder on March 4, 2009. He participated in two additional conspiracies to commit murder, which culminated in the vicious attacks of Ishmael Gillian and David Freeman on August 24, 2008 and September 20, 2008, respectively. Boykin also robbed a suspected narcotics dealer in August 2009.
From 2007 through 2011, Boykin and Simmons, a soldier in the Newburgh Bloods, participated in a conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine on Landers Street in Newburgh, New York, and throughout the city. They also possessed firearms in connection with their drug trafficking and racketeering activities with the Newburgh Bloods gang.
In addition to the prison terms, Judge McMahon sentenced Boykin to five years of supervised release and a $25,000 fine and ordered him to pay a special assessment of $1,100, and Simmons to 10 years of supervised release and a $10,000 fine and ordered him to pay a special assessment of $400.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding efforts of the Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force, including the FBI, the City of Newburgh Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and the New York State Police, in connection with this investigation.
Assistant United States Attorneys Michael D. Maimin, Amie N. Ely, and Emil J. Bove, III are in charge of the prosecution.