Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that today SKYLAR DAVIS, a/k/a “S-Dot," was sentenced to 30 years in prison in connection with his robbery and participation in the murder of Samuel Stubbs, a community member in the City of Newburgh, New York, and DAVIS’s membership in and leadership of “Southside," a violent street gang that operated in Newburgh. DAVIS previously pled guilty to racketeering and murder charges before United States District Cathy Seibel, who also imposed today’s sentence. Besides his gang leadership and his participation in the murder of Samuel Stubbs, DAVIS also committed or helped commit six additional nonfatal shootings of Southside’s gang rivals in Newburgh over an approximately nine-month period in 2015 and 2016.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “On a summer night in 2015, Southside gang leader Skylar Davis participated in the murder of Samuel Stubbs. Davis also committed or participated in more than half a dozen other attempted murders over the ensuing year. Now he will spend many years in federal prison for his reign of violence."
According to the various Indictments filed in this case, other documents filed, as well as statements made in open court:
From at least 2014 through June 2017, the Southside Gang was a criminal enterprise centered in and around the intersection of South Street and Chambers Street in an area of Newburgh known as the “Southside." In order to gain funds for the gang, protect the gang’s territory, and promote the gang’s standing, members of Southside engaged in, among other things, narcotics trafficking, robbery, and acts involving murder. To that end, Southside members sold heroin, crack cocaine, and marijuana in the gang’s territory, promoted their gang affiliation on social media sites such as Facebook, possessed firearms, and engaged in shootings as part of their gang membership. Southside members participated in numerous shootings of rival gang members and innocent bystanders, including two murders.
DAVIS was a longtime member of Southside and one of the gang’s leaders. On Aug. 13, 2015, DAVIS, along with others, decided to rob a high-stakes card game that Stubbs was playing outside, near the intersection of Lander and Courtney Streets in Newburgh. DAVIS and a co-conspirator approached the three card players with guns drawn and then started firing. All three men were hit by the ensuing gunfire, and Stubbs, 67, died of his injuries.
The Stubbs murder was only one of many acts of violence DAVIS participated in as part of his leadership of the Southside gang, including numerous violent crimes after DAVIS participated in Stubbs’s murder. Beginning in the summer of 2015, Southside engaged in a series of retaliatory shootings with its primary rival gang in Newburgh, the Yellow Tape Money Gang, or “YTMG," and with other Newburgh gangs allied with YTMG. DAVIS committed, assisted, and/or caused the following additional Newburgh shootings:
* The attempted murder of rival gang member Gabriel Warren, a/k/a “Stacks," in the late summer or early fall of 2015;
* The attempted murder of rival gang member Armad Evans, a/k/a “Yellow," on or about October 5, 2015;
* The attempted murder of rival gang member Tyrin Gayle, a/k/a “Spazzo," and other YTMG members on or about Dec. 11, 2015;
* The attempted murder of rival YTMG gang members on or about March 17, 2016;
* Aiding and abetting the attempted murder of rival gang member Romeo Herring on or about April 3, 2016; and
* The attempted murder of rival gang members in the vicinity of the 845 Lounge located at 778 Broadway on or about May 21, 2016.
DAVIS bragged about his violence, his drug dealing, and his firearms possession on Facebook, which helped further fuel the violent rivalry between Southside and YTMG.
DAVIS, 22, of Newburgh, was arrested in June 2017 as a result of a multi-year investigation by the FBI’s Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force and the City of Newburgh Police Department into gang violence in Newburgh. DAVIS was previously serving a lengthy sentence for New York state weapon and controlled substance offenses. The Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force and the City of Newburgh Police Department had previously arrested members of YTMG in 2016; every charged member of YTMG was sentenced by Judge Seibel in 2017 and 2018.
Davis is the thirteenth member of Southside to be sentenced by Judge Seibel. Judge Seibel has imposed substantial periods of incarceration on each:
Name
Convictions:
Sentence
Skylar Davis
Racketeering Conspiracy
Murder in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking
Murder Through Use of a Firearm
Ardae Hines
Racketeering Conspiracy
Narcotics Conspiracy
180 months
Michael Simmons
Racketeering Conspiracy
Possessing Firearms During and in Relation to Drug Trafficking
111 months
Demetrice McLean
Racketeering Conspiracy
Possessing Firearms During and in Relation to Attempted Murder in Aid of Racketeering
180 months
Christopher Davis
Racketeering Conspiracy
Narcotics Conspiracy
126 months
Diamante Frazier
Narcotics Conspiracy
Brandishing Firearms During and in Relation to Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Attempted Murder in Aid of Racketeering
120 months
Ditavious Williams
Racketeering Conspiracy
Narcotics Conspiracy
121 months
Donte Nugent
Racketeering Conspiracy
Narcotics Conspiracy
108 months
Davante Nugent
Racketeering Conspiracy
Narcotics Conspiracy
60 months
Calvin Lembhard
Discharging Firearm in Furtherance of Attempted Murder in Aid of Racketeering
120 months
Paradise Branch
Racketeering Conspiracy
Narcotics Conspiracy
120 months
William Fennell
Racketeering Conspiracy
Narcotics Conspiracy
Discharging Firearms in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking
240 months
Troy Young
Racketeering Conspiracy
Using a Firearm in Furtherance of Murder in Aid of Racketeering
180 months
* * *
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco, and Explosives, and the City of Newburgh Police Department. Mr. Berman thanked the Orange County District Attorney’s Office for its invaluable ongoing assistance in the case. Mr. Berman also thanked the Town of Newburgh Police Department, the New York State Police, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, the Town of New Windsor Police Department, and the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision for their assistance in the case.
This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant United States Attorneys Jacqueline Kelly, Allison Nichols, Maurene Comey, and Samuel Raymond are in charge of the prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
