Twelve Members and Associates of the Mac Baller Brims Set of the Bloods Gang Indicted for Drug Trafficking

An indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn, charging 12 members and associates of the Mac Baller Brims, a subgroup or “set” of the nationwide Bloods street gang (the “Mac Ballers”), with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine and heroin.  The alleged crimes were committed in and around the Louis H. Pink Houses in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn (the “Pink Houses”), as well as in the Claremont and University Heights neighborhoods of the Bronx and locations in the state of Maine.  A second indictment, charging Hassen Ford with distributing crack cocaine in the Pink Houses, was also unsealed today.  This morning, during the execution of search warrants at locations tied to the Mac Ballers in Brooklyn and the Bronx, members of law enforcement seized two firearms, quantities of heroin and crack cocaine, and drug paraphernalia.  A starter pistol was also seized from Ford’s residence.  The defendants’ arraignments are scheduled this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak.

Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and James P. O’Neill, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the indictments.

“As alleged in court filings, the defendants are members of a Bloods set that has endangered communities by supplying illicit drugs and protecting their trafficking operation with firearms,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue.  “Today’s arrests mark a milestone in dismantling the Mac Baller Brims and the threat they have posed to law abiding citizens in our District and beyond.”

“There is an odd glamorization of dealing drugs, firing guns and killing people in gang culture that defies comprehension.  Someone allegedly bragging about almost going to jail because he was going to shoot someone shouldn’t be an accepted form of conversation or behavior,” said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney.  “The FBI NY Metro Safe Streets Gang Task Force investigates gangs and arrests members because they pose a significant danger to the people in their communities.  We are fully invested in the pursuit of these violent offenders who think it’s cool to threaten someone’s life.”

“Today’s arrests bring a dangerous set of blood gang members off our streets,” stated NYPD Police Commissioner O’Neill. “My thanks to the detectives, agents, and prosecutors whose work made today’s arrests and charges possible.”

As alleged in the indictments and other court filings, the defendant Kevin St. Hill was responsible for drug and gun-related crimes in the Pink Houses and is also a ranking member of the Mac Ballers.  St. Hill received his drug supply, in part, from the defendant Mario Rabb, a Mac Baller member who sold crack cocaine and heroin on Webster Avenue in the Bronx.  Rabb also supplied Mac Baller members Felix Collazo and Malcolm Hogue with quantities of drugs.  The drug-trafficking operation was responsible for the distribution of significant amounts of crack cocaine and heroin in Brooklyn and the Bronx, as well as heroin in Maine.

Court-authorized wiretaps on phones used by several defendants confirmed that Lavon Barrett holds the highest-ranking position among non-incarcerated Mac Ballers, having been appointed as the “Don,” or leader, for “the whole t[o]wn” in late December 2017, and that St. Hill was appointed to oversee the Mac Ballers’ operations in Brooklyn.  In other intercepted conversations, members of the gang related accounts of their using firearms and violence to protect their interests.  For example, in a series of calls in November 2017, St. Hill threatened a group of individuals with a firearm (referred to as a “hammer”) in the Pink Houses:  Barrett called codefendant Shatavia Walls and asked her to “bring the hammer downstairs.”  Subsequently, Barrett recounted how close he came to actually shooting: “I was about to be in jail because I was about to fire.”  In yet another intercepted call, Barrett and Collazo discussed Collazo’s need to get ammunition for his firearm “ASAP” because he had to “take care of something.”  After offering Collazo bullets from Barrett’s firearm, Collazo promised he was going to “make a statement” and bragged about the resolve of the gang’s members to protect their turf:  “Can’t f*** with the Macs” because Mac Ballers will “die for this sh**, ride for this sh**, and let it fly” – or shoot – “for this sh**.” 

The charges in the indictments are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.  If convicted of the most serious charges, the defendants Barrett, Berthely, Collazo, Gethers, Rabb, Kevin St. Hill and Shawn St. Hill each face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a maximum of life imprisonment.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Margaret Gandy and Andrey Spektor are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendants:

LAVON BARRETT
Age:  31
Hempstead, New York

MATTEW BERTHELY
Age: 32
Brooklyn, New York

FELIX COLLAZO
Age: 37
Bronx, New York

DWAYNE DAVIS
Age: 29
Brooklyn, New York

STEVEN GETHERS
Age: 31
Bronx, New York

TERRY HEARD
Age: 50
Bronx, New York

MALCOLM HOGUE
Age: 25
Bronx, New York

MARIO RABB
Age: 45
Bronx, New York

KEVIN ST. HILL
Age: 32
Brooklyn, New York

SHAWN ST. HILL
Age: 32
Brooklyn, New York

SHATAVIA WALLS
Age: 30
Brooklyn, New York

CHARLES WARD
Age: 41
Bronx, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket Nos. 18-CR-185 (FB)

HASSEN FORD
Age: 43
Brooklyn, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket Nos. 18-CR-183 (AMD)