Jerrin Pena Murder, Washington Heights NY, 2019

Jerrin Pena, a 23-year-old member of the violent Own Every Dollar gang, pleaded guilty to murder, attempted murder, and other charges in connection with his involvement in the gang’s violent activities in Washington Heights and surrounding communities.

The guilty plea was announced by Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who said that Pena’s crimes are just one example of the many acts of violence committed by members and associates of Own Every Dollar.

According to the indictment, Pena was a member of the Trinitarios gang, a subset of Own Every Dollar based in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan. On April 14, 2019, Pena and others drove to West 135th Street in Manhattan to shoot at members of a rival gang. Pena exited the car and shot at a rival gang member, missing him but striking bystander Hector Cruz, 57, in the liver. Cruz died of the gunshot wound approximately one month later.

Pena also pleaded guilty to an attempted murder on February 28, 2023, when he and several other inmates stabbed another inmate in the Metropolitan Detention Center. He also pleaded guilty to a gunpoint robbery of a drug dealer on January 22, 2022, and conspiring to traffic more than four kilograms of fentanyl.

The case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah L. Kushner, Kevin Mead, Alexandra S. Messiter, and Ashley C. Nicolas leading the prosecution. The New York City Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration were praised for their outstanding work in the case.

Pena is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken on March 4, 2025. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for racketeering conspiracy, 20 years in prison for attempted murder, and 20 years in prison for Hobbs Act robbery, among other charges.

The Own Every Dollar gang has been linked to numerous violent crimes, including five murders and 15 attempted murders. Thirteen other OED defendants have previously pleaded guilty in the case, including Mayovanex Rodriguez, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for a 2022 murder.

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