Leader Of “2Fly” Street Gang Sentenced To Over 16 Years In Prison On Racketeering And Firearms Charges

    Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that LAQUAN PARRISH, a/k/a “MadDog,” a/k/a “Quanzaa,” a leader of a violent street gang in the Bronx called the “2Fly YGz” (“2Fly”), was sentenced today to 195 months in prison on racketeering and firearms charges.  PARRISH was sentenced by United States District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.  

Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said:  “Laquan Parrish led the violent 2Fly street gang, and participated in the gang’s violence.  In August 2012, Parrish and other 2Fly members opened gunfire at a group of rival gang members sitting in a playground.  By good fortune, no one was killed, but a bullet struck one rival gang member in the chest and another in the leg, and a 14-year-old girl was wounded in the crossfire.  Today’s sentence holds Parrish accountable for this senseless violence.”

According to the Indictment and other documents filed in the case, as well as statements made during the public proceedings in this case:

PARRISH was a leader of 2Fly, a subset of the “Young Gunnaz,” or “YGz” street gang, which operates throughout New York City.  2Fly is based in the Bronx, within and around the Eastchester Gardens public housing development (“ECG”) and in an area called the “Valley” or the “V,” which is in the vicinity of Gun Hill Road.  ECG is a rectangular complex of residential buildings bordered by Burke, Adee, Yates, and Bouck Avenues, in the middle of which is a playground.  The gang war between 2Fly and rival street gangs has led to an enormous amount of fatal and non-fatal violence between 2007 and 2016 in the Northern Bronx, including shootings, stabbings, slashings, beatings, and robberies.  Members and associates of 2Fly controlled the narcotics trade at ECG, which took place in the open air at the playground and in apartments at ECG.  2Fly primarily sold marijuana and crack cocaine, but also sold powder cocaine and prescription pills, such as oxycodone.  2Fly members and associates stored guns at the playground or in nearby apartments or cars in order to protect the narcotics business and for protection against rival gangs.

In addition to leading 2Fly, PARRISH personally participated in a number of acts of violence with the Gang, including a shootout with rival gang members on August 7, 2012, in a public park in the Bronx.  Three victims were shot, including a 14-year-old girl caught in the crossfire.

PARRISH, 27, of the Bronx, New York, was arrested in this case as a result of a multi-year investigation by the New York City Police Department’s Bronx Gang Squad (the “Bronx Gang Squad”), the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Violent Gang Unit (“HSI”), the New York Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), and the Joint Firearms Task Force of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”) into gang violence in the Northern Bronx.  On April 27, 2016, the Indictment captioned United States v. Laquan Parrish et al., 16 Cr. 212 (LAK) was unsealed, charging 57 members and associates of 2Fly with racketeering conspiracy, narcotics conspiracy, narcotics distribution, and/or firearms charges.  To date, 54 of these defendants have pled guilty.

Mr. Kim praised the outstanding work of NYPD’s Bronx Gang Squad, HSI, DEA, and ATF.  He also thanked the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office, the Department of Investigation, NYCHA Inspector General’s Office, and the New York State Department of Parole for their ongoing support in this investigation.