Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that TERRELL POLK was sentenced today to 35 years in prison in connection with his participation in a crack cocaine conspiracy and related firearms charges. As the evidence at trial established, POLK committed three shootings of drug rivals in the Bronx, New York during August 2015. POLK was convicted following a trial before United States District Judge George B. Daniels, who also imposed today’s sentence.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As the jury found, Terrell Polk sold large quantities of crack cocaine and resolved disputes over drug territory with terrifying violence. As a result of the skill and determination of our law enforcement partners, Polk will now spend several decades behind bars.”
According to the evidence presented during the trial:
Terrell Polk was a member of a violent drug trafficking organization that sold large quantities of crack cocaine in the Highbridge section of the Bronx. On July 25, 2015, Polk used a .40 caliber pistol to shoot a rival drug dealer at point blank range on University Avenue in the Bronx. The victim of this shooting suffered a fractured leg.
Approximately 10 days later, on August 4, 2015, Polk used a shotgun to shoot two victims inside of a store located on Anderson Avenue in the Bronx. On that occasion, Polk was in a car when he saw one of his victims standing on the sidewalk. Polk stopped the car, jumped out of the driver’s seat with a shotgun, and chased the victim into a store. The victim and an innocent bystander in the store barricaded themselves in the back room to hide from Polk. When Polk was unable to gain access to the room, he fired a shotgun blast through the door, wounding both men. The first victim sustained shotgun wounds to his leg and hand, and the second victim sustained shotgun wounds to his elbow.
A few weeks after these shooting incidents, on August 26, 2015, New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) officers stopped a vehicle driven by Polk, and recovered a loaded gun from the back seat.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and NYPD.
