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Brooklyn Gang Boss ‘Chucky’ Sentenced to 23 Years for Racketeering, Gun Crimes
Quandel Smothers, also known as ‘Chucky,’ was sentenced to 23 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime in connection with his leadership of the East New York-based Elite Assassin Millas (E.A.M.) gang, a subset of the Bloods street gang.
Smothers was convicted by a federal jury in February 2023 following a two-week trial. He conspired with other gang members and associates to deal drugs, commit fraud, and to murder or attempt to murder their rivals from 2006 to 2019, resulting in multiple shootings that left one individual dead and several other victims permanently disabled.
“Smothers, who fancied himself the gang’s ‘Godfather’ and East New York his ‘Gun Town,’ deserves the decades behind bars imposed today for leading a criminal enterprise that endangered the community with their mindless killing, shootings and assaults of rivals,” said Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
As proven at trial, E.A.M. operated primarily in East New York, which the gang referred to as ‘Gun Town.’ The gang made money through fraud and drug dealing, particularly sales of crack cocaine and marijuana. Smothers rose to the leadership position of E.A.M. through violence and fear.
On April 30, 2011, Smothers shot a fellow E.A.M. member in the torso and leg over a drug and loyalty-related dispute, causing the victim’s leg to be amputated. Over the years that Smothers led the gang, his underlings engaged in feuds with other local street gangs in East New York that frequently resulted in shootouts between the groups.
As a result of shootings, two individuals were paralyzed by members of E.A.M., and one victim – Michael Tenorio – was murdered. All six other members and associates of E.A.M. that were charged with the defendant have pleaded guilty to crimes including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, assault, and interstate stalking causing life-threatening injury.
Tyshawn Corbett was sentenced to 45 years’ imprisonment; Marlon Bristol was sentenced to 135 months’ imprisonment; Devon Bristol was sentenced to 80 months’ imprisonment; Desmonn Beckett was sentenced to 64 months’ imprisonment; and Andrew Campbell was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment. Qawon Allen is awaiting sentencing.
This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Galeotti, Genny Ngai, and Jonathan Siegel are in charge of the case.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Organized Crime|Violent Crime|Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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