Members of Brooklyn-Based Hyena Crips Gang Charged With Multiple Murders

Summary

A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, dated May 14, 2024, announcing that a superseding indictment was partially unsealed charging seven members of the Brooklyn-based Hyena Crips gang with racketeering and using a firearm in the course of a murder in connection with three murders, robberies and identity-fraud schemes. According to the release, the alleged murders include the stabbing of Leandre Mallinckrodt at the West Indian Day Parade on September 3, 2012 and the shooting of Roodson Polynice on September 2, 2020. Dave Augustin, Matthew Harris, Rick Jasmin, Wisny Joseph and Richler Morette are charged with conspiring to commit identity fraud to obtain COVID-19 unemployment benefits and SBA loans, and Dave Augustin, Harris, Joseph and Morette with money laundering conspiracy.

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“2024 05 23 Members Of Brooklyn Based Hyena Crips Gang Charged With Multiple Murders And Racketeering Activity.” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2024-05-23-members-of-brooklyn-based-hyena-crips-gang-charged-with-mul-56b8ec5bf2/, SHA-256 de84e994532ac40ebda1c0a0b23c56095db91b4a0aa775de0fd010d7e01a73b8.

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U.S. Department of Justice

Breon Peace
United States Attorney
Eastern District of New York
271 Cadman Plaza East
Brooklyn, New York 11201

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 14, 2024

Contact:
John Marzulli
Danielle Blustein Hass
United States Attorney’s Office
(718) 254-6323

PRESS RELEASE

MEMBERS OF BROOKLYN-BASED HYENA CRIPS GANG CHARGED WITH
MULTIPLE MURDERS AND RACKETEERING ACTIVITY
SPANNING NEARLY A DECADE

Murder Victim, Mistaken to be a Rival, was Stabbed in the Neck by Hyena Crip Gang Member
at the 2012 West Indican Day Parade

Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, a superseding indictment was partially
unsealed variously charging seven members of the Brooklyn-based Hyena Crips gang with
racketeering and using a firearm in the course of a murder in connection with three murders,
murder conspiracies, robberies and identity-fraud schemes dating back to 2012. Three
defendants were arrested this morning and are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon before
United States Magistrate Judge James R. Cho. The four remaining defendants, who are in state
and federal custody on other charges, will be arraigned at a later date.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Ivan J.
Arvelo, Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York (HSI), Edward
A. Caban, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), and Jonathan Mellone,
Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Northeast
Region (DOL-OIG), announced the arrests and superseding indictment.

“For years, the Hyena Crips terrorized our community with brutal acts of
violence—including murders, shootings and brazen armed-robberies—and funded their criminal
activities through fraud schemes,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “The crimes alleged in
today’s superseding indictment illustrate well the damage this gang has wrought on individuals,
small businesses and the community at-large. This Office and its law enforcement partners are
working tirelessly to dismantle violent criminal enterprises, take out their leadership and obtain
justice for their victims. It is my hope that today’s indictment brings some measure of solace
particularly to the families of Samuel Joseph, Leandre Mallinckrodt and Roodson Polynice who
were senselessly murdered.”
“As alleged, these defendants and the Hyena Crips gang at-large have for years
inflicted unimaginable pain on the community and claimed the lives of innocent New Yorkers.
While nothing can bring back Leandre Mallinckrodt, Samuel Joseph, and Roodson Polynice, HSI
New York will never forget its commitment to seeking justice on behalf of victims, regardless of
how much time has passed,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Arvelo. “HSI New York will not sit
idly by as gangs terrorize the public. I commend our law enforcement partners, including the
New York Police Department, for working together to eliminate violent criminal organizations
and the fear they cause.”

“The ‘Hyena lifestyle’ was one of wanton violence coupled with acute ineptitude,
as the individuals charged today allegedly murdered innocent men they mistook for rival gang
members,” stated NYPD Commissioner Caban. “The actions of this busy criminal network
ranged from robbery to financial fraud, which, for too long, cast a pall over large swaths of our
city. I highly commend all the investigators involved in this case, starting us toward a modicum
of justice for the grieving families of those senselessly killed.”

“An important part of the mission of the U.S Department of Labor, Office of
Inspector General is to investigate allegations of fraud involving COVID-19 pandemic
unemployment insurance programs. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners
to investigate these types of allegations,” stated Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent-in-Charge,
Northeast Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.

As detailed in the government’s detention letter filed earlier today, the Hyena
Crips set of the Crips street gang is a violent criminal enterprise operating in the East Flatbush
section of Brooklyn. The gang engages in acts of violence, including murder, robbery and
assault, and earns money through drug trafficking, bank fraud and access device fraud. Members
of the gang refer to each other as “Hyenas,” “Heenz” or some variation of hyena, and use social
media emojis depicting a bluish-purple face with horns and an animal resembling what appears
to be a hyena, wolf or fox.

Murder of Leandre Mallinckrodt

On September 3, 2012, defendant Rick Jasmin and other members of the Hyena
Crips were present at the annual West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn. A fight broke out and
Jasmin allegedly stabbed Leandre Mallinckrodt, who the defendant mistook for a rival gang
member, in the neck. Mallinckrodt, who had been visiting from upstate New York and had no
gang affiliation, died from the wound.

Murder of Samuel Joseph

On February 22, 2019, Martial H. Amilcar and a co-conspirator drove to 15-year-
old Samuel Joseph’s apartment building and waited outside until Joseph’s teenage sister arrived
at the building’s entrance. While Joseph’s sister prepared to enter the building, the victim was
walking down an internal staircase towards the building’s exit. When Joseph’s sister opened the
building door to enter, Amilcar walked into the building behind her, pulled out a gun and shot
Joseph three times at close range, killing him. The shooting and events leading up to it were
captured on security camera footage taken nearby. Amilcar and the co-conspirator allegedly

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killed Joseph in retaliation for an altercation earlier that day between Amilcar’s relative, a fellow
gang member, and Joseph’s older brother, a rival gang member.

Murder of Roodson Polynice

In the summer of 2020, Hyena Crips leader Dave Augustin allegedly directed
Richler Morette and Bradley Augustin to retaliate against a rival gang for the non-fatal shootings
of two Hyena Crips leaders. On September 2, 2020, Bradley Augustin, Morette and others
allegedly carried out the fatal shooting of Roodson Polynice. Polynice, like Mallincrodt, had no
gang affiliation and was killed after he was wrongly identified by the defendants as a rival.
Following the murder, Morette responded to a group Facebook messages about Polynice’s death
in which he replied with three laughing-face emojis and stated, “[d]on’t care who got hit” and
“pic [sic] a side or get killed with them Hyenalifestyle or no life.”

COVID-19 Fraud

Dave Augustin, Matthew Harris, Rick Jasmin, Wisny Joseph, and Richler Morette
are charged with allegedly conspiring to commit identity fraud in connection with fraudulently
obtaining unemployment benefits and loans issued by the Small Business Administration for
relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dave Augustin, Harris, Joseph and Morette are also
charged with money laundering conspiracy arising from their fraudulently opening bank
accounts to conceal the source of ill-gotten gains obtained by members of the Hyena Crips.

The superseding indictment also charges several defendants with the attempted
armed robbery of a Caribbean Air check cashing businesses, the attempted robbery of a
pharmacy and the non-fatal shooting of an individual following an argument during a dice game.

The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendants are presumed
innocent unless and until proven guilty.

If convicted, Martial H. Amilcar, Bradley Augustin, Dave Augustin, Jasmin, and
Morette face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Harris and Joseph face prison terms of
up to 20 years.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing
together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime
and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN
in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all
U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law
enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce
violent crime.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime and
Gangs Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Devon Lash, Jessica Weigel, Joshua Dugan
and Andres Palacio are in charge of the prosecution. The case was initiated and investigated by
Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Wenzel in the Long Island Division.

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The Defendants:

MARTIAL H. AMILCAR (also known as “Drippy”)
Age: 27
Brooklyn, New York

BRADLEY AUGUSTIN (also known as “Cradley”)
Age: 24
Brooklyn, New York

DAVE AUGUSTIN (also known as “Juice”)
Age: 38
Brooklyn, New York

MATTHEW HARRIS (also known as “Kappy”)
Age: 24
Brooklyn, New York

RICK JASMIN (also known as “Jab”)
Age: 31
Brooklyn, New York

WISNY JOSEPH (also known as “Weezy”)
Age: 32
Brooklyn, New York

RICHLER MORETTE (also known as “Breezy”)
Age: 29
Brooklyn, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-18 (S1) (AMD)

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