The Justice Department announced that eight members and associates of a violent branch of the Crips called the Insane Crip Gang (ICG) have been charged with a variety of crimes in a 59-count indictment that was unsealed in federal court in Central Islip.
According to a release by the U.S. Attorney General’s Eastern District of New York, the offenses include racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, firearms offenses and fraud. The defendants include Akeem Chambers, 21, of Uniondale, N.Y.; Jahziah Dindyal, 19, of Hempstead, N.Y.; Jonathan Gonzalez, 23, of Greensboro, N.C.; Lesly Pardo, 26, of Mount Sinai, N.Y.; Rob Pardo, 25, of Mount Sinai, N.Y.; Jalen Rogers, 20, of Hempstead, N.Y.; and Jonathan Vazquez, 21, of Hempstead, N.Y.
“As alleged, the defendants participated in a staggering amount of extreme violence that shattered lives, maimed rivals and endangered countless innocent bystanders on Long Island,” said the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace. “As of today, after three brutal murders, over a dozen shootings, and hundreds of thousands of dollars of fraud, their chokehold of fear and violence over our community is finally over. This Office and our law enforcement partners will continue working tirelessly to protect our communities from gang violence and fraud.”
There are seven defendants charged with racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder six charged with multiple attempted murders and firearms offenses, and four charged with roles in three murders committed between 2016 and 2021 in Nassau County. Six of the defendants were arrested in New York on April 13 and the seventh was arrested in North Carolina. They were all arraigned that afternoon. One defendant is at large.
Peace extended his gratitude to the Nassau County Police Department's Murder Unit and Gang Investigation Squad as well as the FBI's Long Island Gang Task Force for their persistent efforts to apprehend these deadly individuals. Peace also commended the United States Department of Labor's Office of the Inspector General and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives for their help.
Along with Peace, announcing the arrests were District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly of the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office; Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael J. Driscoll; the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and Commissioner Patrick J. Ryder of the Nassau County Police Department.
Donnelly commented on the violence that ICG has brought to the state of New York, which has not only affected gang members but members of the public.
“This Crips faction has wreaked havoc in the Hempstead area for nearly a decade, killing perceived rivals and innocent bystanders alike,” Donnelly said. “In just two years, Akeem Chambers allegedly participated in two homicides and more than a dozen shootings. This gang celebrated its violence on social media, using that same social media as a recruiting tool, and financed its activities by systematically stealing from government benefit programs designed to aid the unemployed and those adversely impacted by COVID. Dismantling gang networks is incredibly difficult work and I thank my staff and our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI and NCPD for the collaborative spirit used during this year-long investigation.”
