By TimesLedger Staff
KEW GARDENS – A total of 31 alleged gang members from southeast Queens were indicted on charges of conspiring to rob people in order to raise money to free a gang leader jailed in Riker’s Island, and to murder two members of a rival gang, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Twenty of the suspects were arraigned Wednesday in Queens Supreme Court. Police are searching for 11 other alleged members of three affiliated gangs — SNOW, Loyalty Over Everything and Young Bosses —that operated, according to Brown, in Rosedale, Laurelton and Rochdale Village.
According to authorities, 17 crew members were charged with planning to kill the two rivals gang members that were allegedly responsible for killing a SNOW member. They were all charged with conspiracy to murder and face 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
In a separate indictment, 16 gang members, two of them also charged in the conspiracy to murder indictment, face conspiracy to commit robbery charges.
“These indictments are another example of police and prosecutors working together to eliminate gang violence that too often plagues our neighborhoods,” said Brown.
Police Commissioner William Bratton said the arrests and indictment of these gang member “sends a clear message that the New York City Police Department, along with our partners from the Queens District Attoney’s Office, will continue to rid our communities of gang activity and gun violence.”
