United States Drug Enforcement Administration

NEW YORK – United States Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan and Geoffrey S. Berman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Steven Brown, a/k/a “BI,” pled guilty today to participating in a murder in connection with a drug crime for his role in the Aug. 2, 2009 murder of Derrick Moore in the Bronx. Brown pled before U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said:  “Almost 10 years ago to the day, Steven Brown, the leader of a violent, drug-dealing street crew, ordered the killing of rival street crewmember, Derrick Moore. We are committed to combating gang violence, and today’s guilty plea shows that no passage of time will stop us from bringing perpetrators of violence to justice.”

According to the allegations contained in the Indictment and statements made in court:

The Taylor Avenue Crew was a criminal enterprise that operated principally in and around the Bronx, New York, from at least 2007 up to and including 2015. The Taylor Avenue Crew sold cocaine base, commonly known as “crack cocaine,” primarily in and around Taylor Avenue in the Bronx. The Taylor Avenue Crew controlled crack cocaine sales within this area by prohibiting and preventing non-members, outsiders, and rival narcotics dealers from distributing crack cocaine in the area controlled by the Crew. The Taylor Avenue Crew also committed acts of violence in the area against rival gangs, including assaults, attempted murder, and murder.

Members and associates of the Taylor Avenue Crew also allied themselves with crews from nearby areas of the Bronx. One such crew included the Creston Avenue Crew, a criminal enterprise that operated principally in and around the Bronx from at least 2003 up to and including 2011 and whose members sold cocaine and marijuana primarily in and around Creston Avenue in the Bronx. Members of the Taylor and Creston Avenue Crews associated with each other and assisted each other by, among other things, carrying out acts of violence on each other’s behalf upon request by the leaders of the respective crews. One such act of violence was the murder of 22-year-old Derrick Moore. In August 2009, after escalating violence between the Taylor Avenue Crew and a rival crew, Brown, who was the head of the Taylor Avenue Crew, ordered the murder of Moore. To carry out the murder, Brown requested the assistance of the Creston Avenue Crew, whose members then shot and killed Moore.

Brown, 40, of the Bronx, New York, pled guilty to one count of murder while engaged in a narcotics trafficking offense, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison. He will be sentenced by Judge Failla on Dec. 4, 2019.

Luis Ortiz, one of Brown’s co-defendants, pled guilty on July 24, 2019, to murder through use of a firearm in connection with a drug crime and faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison. Ortiz is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 18, 2019.

Trial for an additional co-defendant, Rafael Reyes, is scheduled to begin on Sept. 30, 2019. The description of the offense set forth in this release are merely allegations and Reyes is innocent until proven guilty.

Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the New York City Police Department, the DEA, Homeland Security Investigations, and the FBI. Mr. Berman also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania for their assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maurene Comey, Jessica Lonergan, and Jason Swergold are in charge of the prosecution. The case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit.

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