Jamaica Gang Members Busted For Plotting To Kill Rivals: DA

JAMAICA, QUEENS -- Six members of a notoriously violent Bloods-affiliated street gang in Jamaica have been busted for a string of 2017 murder attempts on rival gang members, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The accused Wood City Gang members - ages 22 to 29 - were charged with shooting and plotting to kill two members of the rival SNOW gang in a 22-count indictment delivered by a Queens County grand Jury.

Wood City Gang is a local subset of the notorious Bloods street gang that mainly operates in Jamaica, Springfield Gardens and St. Albans, authorities said. NYPD and Queens District Attorney investigators uncovered the alleged murder plots during a lengthy investigation into the gang that included wiretapping members' phones and sleuthing their social media posts.

"The defendants are variously accused of turning our communities into danger zones with senseless gun violence," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

"Their alleged criminal and violent acts have no place in a civilized society."

The murder attempts started in April 2017 after a SNOW gang member allegedly targeted someone in the Wood City Gang, Brown said.

Kaminski Gauthier, 22, of Queens Village, is accused of retaliating by trying to kill two members of the rival gang, according to the indictment.

He was followed by 23-year-old Brandon Bledman, of Queens Village, and 22-year-old James Gomez, of Jamaica, who allegedly gunned down a SNOW gang member in a May 24, 2017 murder attempt.

Bledman was recorded implicating himself and Gomez in the hit job during a wiretapped phone call the next day, prosecutors said. A ballistics report later linked him to the gun used in the shooting.

Alleged Jamaica gang members Nahzaya Grant, 22, and Demetires Anderson, 29, were also caught on camera before and during the shooting of a rival gang member on June 13, 2017, prosecutors said.

Bledman, Gauthier and Gomez were charged with attempted murder, attempted assault, conspiracy and criminal possession of a weapon. Gauthier was also charged with assault and reckless endangerment.

Bledman and Gauthier were both arraigned on Aug. 24, and each pleaded not guilty to the charges. Gomez was arraigned on Wednesday and released on his own recognizance.

Each is slated to return to court on Oct. 1.

Grant and Anderson are both awaiting arraignment on conspiracy, attempted murder and attempted assault charges.

If convicted, all five men each face anywhere from 5 to 25 years behind bars.

Morris was charged with conspiracy and is awaiting arraignment. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison.

Lead photo via Shutterstock