February 25, 1999

LEADER AND SIX MEMBERS OF VIOLENT FAR ROCKAWAY DRUG GANG INDICTED; GANG, KNOWN AS THE "REGULATORS" CONTROLLED MILLION DOLLAR CRACK COCAINE TRADE IN FAR ROCKAWAY HOUSING COMPLEX

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown joined by Chief Charles Kammerdener, Commanding Officer of the New York City Police Department's Narcotics Division, announced today the arrest and indictment of the leader and six members of the "Regulators", a violent drug gang that controlled a million dollar a year crack cocaine operation in Far Rockaway's Edgemere Houses.

District Attorney Brown said, "The Edgemere Houses is one of New York City's largest public housing complexes. It was built in 1961 and consists of 1,395 apartments in 24 seven to nine story buildings. Over 3,700 people reside in the development which, in recent years, has been plagued by drug trafficking and random violence. The arrest and indictment of the leader and members of this drug gang will reduce the level of violence in the area and bring a measure of relief to the law-abiding tenants of the development."

District Attorney Brown said that according to the indictment, the Regulators operated as an enterprise with a distinct structure that included the defendant Gregory Robinson, who is also known as "Nef", as the head of the organization and Soyica Easley, aka "Sookie", as the street manager, and a cadre of five street dealers. The District Attorney said, "It was the Regulators strategy to transact a large volume of sales -- sometimes as many as 200 each day -- of small amounts of crack cocaine in order the evade being caught by the police in possession of large amounts of drugs at any one time since that would expose them to possible life sentences under New York's drug laws. As a result of this strategy the gang would replenish their stock several times a day."

"The Regulators", said District Attorney Brown, "have been in operation since the early 1990's. Using strict and violent discipline they have successfully ruled the crack cocaine trade in the Edgemere Houses. Attempts by rival drug dealers to operate within their territory were met with brutality and gun fire, endangering residents and visitors alike. Collectively, it is alleged, the gang took in an estimated one million dollars each year selling crack cocaine. They allegedly had at their disposal a cache of weapons stored in a second floor apartment at 54-30 Beach Channel Drive. That building, together with a building across the courtyard (54-22 Beach Channel Drive) was the gang's principal base of operations. They stored drugs in apartments located in the buildings and conducted their 7 day a week, 24 hour a day business largely from the courtyard between the buildings. In order to send the message to would-be competitors that they were in control and also to amuse themselves, the defendants routinely fired weapons from the rooftop of 54-30 Beach Channel Drive.

"In addition", the District Attorney said, "The gang used brutal enforcement techniques to punish recalcitrant gang members. It is alleged, for example, that on June 11, 1998, inside a stairwell at 54-30 Beach Channel Drive, Robinson and three of the gangs street dealers, Rasheen Gillis, Rodney Harris and Odell Smith, brutally sexually assaulted and beat a member of the gang who they believed had stolen money from them to teach him a lesson. On July 3, 1998, during the course of the investigation a search warrant was executed at an apartment controlled by the gang inside 54-30 beach Channel Drive where detectives seized a 12 gauge shotgun, a .9mm pistol, a .22 caliber pistol, a flare gun and 100 rounds of ammunition."

The defendants indicted and arrested today are: Gregory "Nef" Robinson, 24, of 25-12 Beach Channel Drive, Far Rockaway; Soyica "Sookie" Easley, 26, of 109-36 175th Street, Jamaica, New York; Rodney "Turk" Harris, 30, of 54-30 Beach Channel Drive; Allah "Cream" Williams, 22, of 409 Beach 51st Street; Odell Smith, 21, of 54-30 Beach Channel Drive; Rasheen "Nooney" Gillis, 24, of 411 Beach 54th Street; and Robert "Dirty Bird" Clark, 23, of 54-30 Beach Channel Drive, all of Far Rockaway.

The defendants are each charged with Enterprise Corruption and various counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and Criminal Possession of a weapon. They face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

The investigation and arrests were carried out by detectives of the Queens Narcotics Borough which is under the command of Inspector Thomas P. Sweeney and Deputy Inspector Frederick E. Britton. The investigation was conducted by Det. Joseph Venturino under the supervision of Lt. John O'Mahoney and Captain Kevin Fitzgerald.

Assistant District Attorneys Joel Meyers and Mark Katz of the District Attorney's Narcotics Investigations Bureau, which is under the supervision of Bureau Chief Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Bureau Chief Wilbert LeMelle and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney Robert D. Alexander, presented the case to the Grand Jury and are in charge of the prosecution.

District Attorney Brown expressed his appreciation to the New York City Housing Authority and the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York for their cooperation and assistance in the investigation.

It should be noted that an indictment is merely an accusation and that a person is considered innocent until proven guilty.

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