Thirteen Members of the Brooklyn-based Gang the "Cash Money Brothers" Indicted for Racketeering

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 19, 2005

Charges Include Murder, Attempted Murder, Crack Distribution and Kidnaping

ROSLYNN R. MAUSKOPF, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, MARTIN D. FICKE, Special Agent-in-Charge, Department of Homeland Security, U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, New York ("ICE"), RAYMOND W. KELLY, Commissioner, New York City Police Department, and MARK J. MERSHON, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office, today announced the filing of federal racketeering and narcotics charges against DAMION "WORLD" HARDY and 12 additional leaders, members and associates of the "Cash Money Brothers" or "CMB," a violent Brooklyn street gang responsible for five murders, the attempted murder of a witness, the kidnaping and attempted robbery of a drug dealer, assault, and illegal firearms possession.¹

The defendants' initial appearances and arraignments are scheduled this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Joan M. Azrack, at the U. S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York. The case has been assigned to United States District Judge David G. Trager.

The charges and arrests follow an 18-month joint ICE, FBI and NYPD investigation coordinated by the U. S. Attorney's Office as part of an ongoing initiative to eliminate violent street gangs that erode the quality of life in many of the district's neighborhoods. The government's investigation revealed that for more than 10 years, CMB members, lead by DAMION HARDY, controlled narcotics trafficking in the Lafayette Gardens Houses in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn through violence and intimidation directed against their drug trafficking competitors, innocent civilians and potential witnesses. Specifically, the charges include:

Conspiracy to Distribute Crack Cocaine

HARDY, ERIC MOORE, DWAYNE MEYERS, JAMES SESSOMS, KENWAYNE JONES, ROBERT FOOTMAN, CARL DAVIS, JAMES FARRIOR, LAMONT JOHNSON, and DJEBARA MCMILLIAN are charged with conspiring between 1991 and August 2004, to distribute more than a kilogram of crack cocaine, using apartments they controlled in Lafayette Gardens to cook, store and bag the drugs.

Murders and Murder Conspiracy Charges

Throughout the 1990's, Ivory "Peanut" Davis was one of CMB's major drug dealing rivals in Lafayette Gardens. On June 12, 1999, Davis' nephew, Rumel Davis, shot and killed DAMION HARDY'S brother, Myron "Wise" Hardy, during a turf dispute. HARDY and other defendants retaliated by conspiring to murder Ivory Davis and murdering four of his associates. Specifically,

. DWAYNE MEYERS is charged with the June 15, 1999, murder of Jerrod Mackens, also known as "Kojack." MEYERS shot and killed Mackens at point blank range in the vestibule of 456 Lafayette Street in Lafayette Gardens because he believed Mackens had supplied the gun Rumel Davis used to kill Myron Hardy.

. DAMION HARDY, ERIC MOORE, and ZAREH SARKISSIAN are charged with the murder of Darryl Baum, also known as "Homicide," on June 10, 2000. HARDY targeted Baum because of his association with Ivory Davis. MOORE shot Baum in the back of the head at the corner of Quincy Street and Marcy Avenue, and fled in a get-away car driven by SARKISSIAN.

. DAMION HARDY, DWAYNE MEYERS, and ABUBAKR ABDUR RAHEEM are charged with the July 25, 2003, murder of Tyrone Baum, the brother of Darryl Baum. HARDY and others targeted Tyrone Baum because they believed he was seeking to avenge his brother's murder. On HARDY's order, MEYERS and RAHEEM, and other CMB members, located Tyrone Baum by a construction site at Reid Avenue and Hancock Street in Brooklyn, where Baum was shot three times in the head.

. DAMION HARDY, ERIC MOORE, and ABUBAKR RAHEEM are charged with the August 1, 2000, murder of James "JR" Hamilton. On HARDY's order, MOORE shot and killed Hamilton inside a seafood restaurant that Hamilton owned at 102 Saratoga Avenue in Brooklyn. MOORE then fled in a get-away car driven by RAHEEM.

. DAMION HARDY, ERIC MOORE, and DWAYNE MEYERS are charged with conspiring to murder Ivory Davis in retaliation for the murder of Myron Hardy. At approximately 4:00 a.m. on the morning of August 10, 2000, MOORE, carrying a .40 caliber handgun that belonged to MEYERS, shot Davis twice in the back as he sat in a car parked in front of Club NV, a nightclub on the corner of Spring Street and Hudson Street in Manhattan. Davis sped away, but lost control of his car and killed an innocent pedestrian. Davis subsequently died from his gunshot wounds.

Attempted Murder of a Witness

DAMION HARDY is charged with the April 1994 attempted murder of a witness who testified against a CMB member in a New York state murder trial. HARDY located the witness in Lafayette Gardens and directed an associate to shoot the witness. The witness was wounded, but survived.

Kidnaping of a Drug Dealer

DAMION HARDY, JAMES SESSOMS, KENWAYNE JONES, and ISHEEN CAMPBELL are charged with the July 12, 2002, kidnaping and attempted robbery of a narcotics trafficker. At HARDY's direction, the victim was blindfolded, bound, and held at gunpoint by SESSOMS, JONES, and CAMPBELL, and other CMB members and associates, in a CMB apartment in Brooklyn. NYPD officers responded to the scene, rescued the victim, and recovered a loaded AK-47.

"The arrests announced today strike a devastating blow to a drug gang responsible for spreading fear and violence in one of our communities," stated United States Attorney MAUSKOPF. "When gangs flood our streets with drugs, assassinate rivals, attempt to murder witnesses, and endanger the lives of innocent residents, we will mobilize all resources available, including federal prosecution, through the RICO statute. This case is the latest of several successful joint investigations that demonstrate our commitment to protect public housing from gang violence, including our most recent indictment filed just last week against eleven drug gang members who terrorized the residents of the Vernon and Sumner Houses in Brooklyn. We are determined to return control of these communities to their rightful, law-abiding residents." Ms. MAUSKOPF thanked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force (HIDTA), the Kings County District Attorney's Office, the New York City Department of Investigation, the New York City Housing Authority, and the Drug Enforcement Administration for their assistance.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent-in-Charge FICKE stated, "Today's arrests have dismantled a major criminal enterprise that has engaged in murder, kidnaping, extortion and narcotics trafficking. These criminals have threatened our citizens and the well-being of our communities. No more. Today, they are off the streets and will be prosecuted for their crimes."

New York City Police Department Commissioner KELLY stated, "This case reasserts our commitment to remove violence and drug dealing from our public housing developments. We will tolerate neither the presence of felons, nor their impact on the people who live there."

Federal Bureau of Investigation Assistant Director-in-Charge MERSHON stated, "This case is another example of the continuing resolve of the FBI and our partners to reign in gang violence. The lethal combination of gangs, guns and drugs can terrorize neighborhoods and victimize innocent people. Our purpose, fundamentally, is to secure for all New Yorkers the right to be safe and out of harm's way in their own neighborhoods, whether they live on Park Avenue or in public housing."

If convicted, DAMION HARDY, ERIC MOORE, DWAYNE MEYERS, ZAREH SARKISSIAN, and ABUBAKR ABDUR RAHEEM each faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, or the death penalty. JAMES SESSOMS, KENWAYNE JONES, ROBERT FOOTMAN, CARL DAVIS, JAMES FARRIOR, LAMONT JOHNSON, DJEBARA MCMILLIAN and ISHEEN CAMPBELL face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The government's case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Sean Haran and Bryan Rose.

The Defendants:

Damion Hardy
DOB: 11/3/74
Brooklyn, New York

Eric Moore
DOB: 11/10/74
Brooklyn, New York

Dwayne Meyers
DOB: 11/25/69
Brooklyn, New York

James Sessoms
DOB: 7/18/75
Brooklyn, New York

Kenwayne Jones
DOB: 11/20/77
Brooklyn, New York

Abubakr Abdur Raheem
DOB: 4/11/60
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Zareh Sarkissian
DOB:11/4/74
Queens, New York

Robert Footman
DOB: 7/31/76
Brooklyn, New York

Carl Davis
DOB: 8/4/70
Brooklyn, New York

James Farrior
DOB: 10/30/71
Brooklyn, New York