Bronx Gang Member Sentenced For Ordering 2009 Murder

 

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that STEVEN BROWN, a/k/a “BI,” was sentenced to 260 months in prison today for participating in the August 2, 2009, murder of Derrick Moore in the Bronx.  BROWN previously pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, who imposed today’s sentence.  Today’s sentence was imposed in addition to a 115-month sentence that BROWN previously served for related narcotics conduct in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “More than a dozen years ago, Steven Brown, the leader of a violent drug crew, ordered the killing of rival street crew member Derrick Moore.  This prosecution and today’s sentence show that our Office is committed to curbing gang violence and making our neighborhoods safer for the law-abiding residents who make their homes there.”

According to the allegations contained in the Indictment and statements made in court, including at BROWN’s plea proceeding and sentencing:

The Taylor Avenue Crew was a criminal enterprise that operated principally in and around the Bronx from at least 2007 up to and including 2015.  The Taylor Avenue Crew sold cocaine base, commonly known as “crack cocaine,” primarily in and around Taylor Avenue in the Bronx.  The Taylor Avenue Crew controlled crack cocaine sales within this area by prohibiting and preventing non-members, outsiders, and rival narcotics dealers from distributing crack cocaine in the area controlled by the Crew.  The Taylor Avenue Crew also committed acts of violence in the area against rival gangs, including assaults, attempted murder, and murder.

Members and associates of the Taylor Avenue Crew also allied themselves with crews from nearby areas of the Bronx.  One such crew included the Creston Avenue Crew, a criminal enterprise that operated principally in and around the Bronx, New York, from at least 2003 up to and including 2011 and whose members sold cocaine and marijuana primarily in and around Creston Avenue in the Bronx.  Members of the Taylor and Creston Avenue Crews associated with each other and assisted each other by, among other things, carrying out acts of violence on each other’s behalf upon request by the leaders of the respective crews.  One such act of violence was the murder of 22-year-old Derrick Moore.  In August 2009, after escalating violence between the Taylor Avenue Crew and a rival crew, BROWN, who was the head of the Taylor Avenue Crew, ordered the murder of Moore.  To carry out the murder, BROWN requested the assistance of the Creston Avenue Crew, whose members then shot and killed Moore.

In addition to the prison term, BROWN, 42, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to five years of supervised release and $6,445 in restitution.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the New York City Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Mr. Williams also thanked the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania for its assistance.