Two members of “Cash Been Long” and “Brothers for Life” gangs sentenced for racketeering conspiracy and selling crack
BUFFALO, N.Y. –U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan, New York Division announced that Shameris Washington, a/k/a GB, and Larry Watkins III, who were convicted of racketeering conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, were sentenced to serve 135 months and 54 months in prison respectively by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul C. Parisi, who is handling the case, stated that the defendants were members of the CBL/BFL Gang, which stands for, among other things, “Cash Been Long” and “Brothers for Life.” The gang, which was involved in the illegal possession and distribution of narcotics, was formed around 2009 and operated primarily in the City of Buffalo at the Towne Gardens Housing Complex. The gang used violence, including murder and attempted murder, threats, and intimidation to defend their territory against rivals and anyone deemed to be a threat to the gang.
On two dates in 2015, defendant Washington was in a vehicle that shot at rival gang members, attempting to kill them. Also in 2015, Washington made at least ten sales of crack cocaine and 20 heroin sales. Thereafter, on January 1, 2017, during a New Year’s Party in an apartment at the Towne Gardens, Washington and others punched and kicked an individual and trapped him in an apartment.
In January 2014, defendant Watkins was observed by Buffalo Police Officers throwing a firearm over the fence of a house on Stanton Street. Officers recovered a loaded .38 special revolver and ammunition. On two occasions during the course of the investigation, investigators recovered bags of cocaine and marijuana at residences frequented by Watkins, and in April 2018, Buffalo Police Officers stopped the defendant’s vehicle and located a bag of crack cocaine and a bag of marijuana.
The sentencings are the result of an investigation by the DEA, Buffalo Resident Office; Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Buffalo Police Department; the New York State Police; the Erie County Sheriff’s Department; the Cheektowaga Police Department; Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations; the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, New York Field Division; the Lackawanna Police Department; and the Erie Crime Analysis Center. Additional assistance was provided by the Erie County District Attorney’s Office.
