“BMB” Street gang member sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for murder of Bronx teenager and other racketeering crimes

NEW YORK – Acting Special Agent in Charge Keith G. Kruskall, New York Division, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Martin Mitchell, aka “Tyliek,” a member of a violent street gang in the Bronx called the “Big Money Bosses”, was sentenced yesterday to 327 months in prison for his gang-related crimes, including the June 22, 2014, murder of 17-year-old Keshon Potterfield. Mitchell pled guilty on Dec. 30, 2016, to conspiracy to commit racketeering and to killing Potterfield, and was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan.

“This sentencing sends a message that law enforcement is committed to taking violent gang members off the streets to face the consequences of their actions,” said DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge Keith Kruskall.  “DEA and our law enforcement partners will continue to disrupt and dismantle violent drug gangs terrorizing this city.” 

“Martin Mitchell was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for the cowardly murder of Keshon Potterfield, a teenager whom Mitchell shot in the back. This significant sentence will take a violent offender off the street and, hopefully, provide Keshon Potterfield’s family some measure of justice," said U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman. "We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prevent gang violence and keep our streets safe.”

According to court documents and statements made during the public proceedings in this case:

BMB is a subset of the “Young Bosses,” or “YBz” street gang, which operates 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, marijuana, and oxycodone.  

Mitchell was a member of BMB.  On June 22, 2014, Mitchell and other members of BMB attended a birthday party in the backyard of a residence on East 232^nd Street in the Bronx.  Mitchell obtained a gun from fellow BMB member Donque Tyrell, aka “Polo Rell,” then used that gun to shoot and kill Potterfield as he ran from the BMB members.  As part of the plea agreement he signed, Mitchell also admitted to attempting to murder two other rival gang members on different occasions, armed robbery, and drug trafficking.

Mitchell, 23, of the Bronx, 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. 

Mr. Berman praised the outstanding work of the DEA, NYPD’s Bronx Homicide Task Force, the NYPD’s 47th Precinct Detective Squad, the NYPD’s Bronx Gang Squad, HSI, and ATF. 

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

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