Nico Burrell, Racketeering Conspiracy, New York 2016

Nico Burrell Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy Charges

Nico Burrell, a/k/a “Zico Nico,” 25, of the Bronx, New York, has pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy in connection with his leadership of the Big Money Bosses gang (“BMB”), a violent street gang that operated primarily on White Plains Road from 215th Street to 233rd Street in the Bronx.

According to the indictment and other documents filed in the case, Burrell was a founder and leader of BMB, a subset of the “Young Bosses,” or “YBz” street gang, which operated throughout New York City. Between 2007 and 2016, members and associates of BMB committed numerous acts of violence against rival gang members in the Bronx, including murders, attempted murders, and armed robberies, and sold crack cocaine and marijuana.

As part of his leadership of BMB, Burrell attempted to shoot a rival gang member on February 11, 2009, but hit an innocent bystander instead. Burrell also sold significant amounts of oxycodone and, during pretrial detention in this case, assaulted a witness.

Burrell was arrested in this case as a result of a multi-year investigation by the New York City Police Department’s Bronx Gang Squad, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Violent Gang Unit, the New York Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Joint Firearms Task Force of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives into gang violence in the Northern Bronx.

Burrell’s guilty plea was announced by Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. “For far too long, under the leadership of Nico Burrell, the BMB street gang has terrorized citizens of the Bronx through violence, robberies, and drug dealing. With Burrell’s guilty plea today, the community around White Plains Road is safer,” Kim said.

Burrell faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Rachel Maimin, Micah W.J. Smith, Hagan Scotten, Jessica Feinstein, and Drew Skinner are in charge of the prosecution.

On April 27, 2016, the indictment was unsealed, charging 63 members and associates of BMB with racketeering conspiracy, narcotics conspiracy, narcotics distribution, and/or firearms charges. To date, 55 of these defendants have pled guilty.

The NYPD’s Bronx Gang Squad, HSI, DEA, and ATF were praised by Kim for their outstanding work in the case.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Rachel Maimin, Micah W.J. Smith, Hagan Scotten, Jessica Feinstein, and Drew Skinner are in charge of the prosecution.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/founder-and-leader-bmb-street-gang-pleads-guilty-racketeering-conspiracy