Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark and New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea today announced that seven alleged members or associates of the Betances Gang, who operated in and around the Betances Houses in the South Bronx, have been variously charged in four indictments on charges including conspiring to murder and assault rival gang members and possessing firearms for incidents spanning the past three years.
District Attorney Clark said, “These alleged gang members fired guns on the streets of the South Bronx, bringing fear to residents during a long period of violence. In one incident, the defendants severely wounded a young man. The shootings were retaliatory, and with these charges we believe we ended a cycle of gunfire.”
NYPD Commissioner Shea said, “Each day the NYPD works to identify and dismantle gangs and crews and prevent the senseless violence that is often associated with their activity. This challenging and often dangerous work continues to be of paramount importance to the NYPD and our law enforcement partners. I thank and commend the NYPD detectives involved in this Bronx investigation for their dedication to this vital work and I thank the members of the Bronx District Attorney’s Office for their efforts which led to these indictments.”
District Attorney Clark said defendant, Michael Columna, 20, of the Bronx, was arraigned today before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Denis Boyle and remanded. Defendant Jhustin Martinez, 18, of the Bronx, was arraigned on June 14, 2021 before Judge Boyle and was remanded. Defendant Jeremy Delgado, 18, of the Bronx, was arrested and arraigned on May 25, 2021, before Judge Boyle and bail was set in the amount of $250,000 cash, $500,000 insurance company bond, and $750,000 partially secured bond at 10 percent. Raymond Corchado, 18, Adam Delarosa, 19, and Joshua Sampson, 17, all of the Bronx, were indicted and arraigned previously. Defendant Derek Centeno, 17, of the Bronx has not been apprehended.
According to the joint investigation by the Bronx District Attorney’s Office and the NYPD’s Gun Violence Suppression Division, members and associates of Betances conspired to acquire firearms in order to protect the areas in and around the Betances Houses, which they considered to be their turf.
Members of this organization often used coded language to discuss and boast about their illicit activities in telephone conversations and on social media.
According to the indictments, on March 15, 2019, alleged Betances Gang members Derek Centeno, Jeremy Delgado, and Jhustin Martinez, fired multiple times at a member of Patterson YGz Gang, nearly striking him, behind a building at 880 Garrison Avenue. The shooting was allegedly planned in retaliation for a previous shooting committed against one of their own.
According to the indictments, on March 21, 2019, alleged Betances members Michael Columna, and Jhustin Martinez, fired multiple times at a Patterson YGz member, striking the victim in the head and causing life-altering injuries. This shooting also was in retaliation for a shooting committed against another member of Betances.
According to the investigation, on January 27, 2019, Adam Delarosa, Jhustin Martinez, and other Betances associates, robbed and assaulted a young woman on a subway platform in the Bronx. On March 18, 2020, alleged Betances members Raymond Corchado, Adam Delarosa, and others, acting together, shot at rival gang members at the Mitchell Houses in the Bronx. A .380 caliber firearm was recovered after the shooting. On January 7, 2021, alleged Betances associate Joshua Sampson discharged a firearm on the corner of East 149th Street and Exterior Street in the Bronx. Officers recovered a 9-mm semi-automatic pistol after Sampson fled from the police and discarded the gun down the garbage chute of a nearby building.
Jhustin Martinez allegedly committed violent attacks while being held at Horizon Juvenile Facility in the Bronx. He allegedly assaulted another detainee, causing the victim to suffer a concussion and a fracture to the face, and allegedly assaulted an officer, causing him bruising and swelling.
District Attorney Clark thanked Detective Patriciann Caputo, Detective Michael DelGardo, Detective Cristofer Schiavone, Sergeant Louis Martinez, Lieutenant Paul Prendergast, Captain Brian McCaughey and Inspector Joseph Savino of the NYPD’s Gun Violence Suppression Division, and Chief of Detectives James Essig for their hard work on the investigation. District Attorney Clark thanked police officers from the 40th Precinct and PSA 7 who assisted in the investigation.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
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