9 alleged Latin Kings indicted on violence charges

Nine alleged members or associates of the Latin Kings street gang arrested last month were indicted Wednesday on a wide variety of charges in connection with violence in the Huntington Station area.

The indictment includes new charges of conspiracy to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.

One of the new crimes involves a March 11 shooting in Huntington Station. According to the indictment, that incident involved a leader of the Latin Kings in an unsuccessful attempt to shoot a member of the rival Crips street gang with a 9-mm semiautomatic handgun.

Residents have complained of a number of shootings near the Jack Abrams Intermediate School, including one on March 11, and some have asked that students be transferred and the school closed. It could not be immediately determined if the March 11 shooting detailed in Wednesday's indictment was the one reported near the school.

The new charges also include a Feb. 20, 2009, shooting in Huntington Station of a person believed to be a member of the Crips; an unsuccessful Aug. 6 attempt in Huntington Station to shoot three members of the Crips, and a Sept. 13 conspiracy to kill members of the Crips in Huntington Station and Wyandanch.

The nine originally were rounded up last month to head off increasing violence in the area, based on a complaint by an FBI agent that did not require any of them to plead at arraignment, according to officials.

The indictment filed Wednesday in federal court in Central Islip by prosecutor Carrie Capwell involved action by a grand jury in addition to adding the alleged new crimes.

Seven of the nine arrested were arraigned before U.S. District Judge Sandra Feuerstein. All pleaded not guilty. Capwell and the attorneys contacted for those indicted declined to comment.

Sources familiar with the investigation said the new charges involved information that had been confirmed since the arrests last month.