Bloods gang member convicted of assault, weapons charges, Nassau DA says

A Bloods gang member is facing more than 20 years in prison after being convicted on assault and weapons possession charges in connection with a May 2020 shooting in Hempstead, Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said Wednesday.

Authorities said Trevor Ford, 30, of Hempstead, was convicted on two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree assault and criminal possession of a firearm. The trial, before Judge Francis Ricigliano, began March 8 and the jury deliberated two days, officials said. Ford faces a maximum of 22 years in prison at sentencing on May 11.

A mistrial was declared in connection with a charge of first-degree attempted assault and Donnelly said that case is due back in court on April 4.

According to the indictment in the case, on May 15, 2020, Ford approached the victim at the corner of Bedell Street and Terrace Avenue at about 7:15 p.m. and, after a verbal altercation, "took out a loaded firearm and shot the victim once in the leg," the district attorney's office said in a news release. The victim, whose identity was not released, was transported to NYU Langone Hospital (Winthrop) in Mineola for treatment of a left leg fracture and emergency surgery to prevent further damage, officials said. Ford was arrested following an investigation by Nassau County police, Hempstead police and the Nassau County Sheriff's Office.

"Trevor Ford walked up to the victim in broad daylight, at one of the most pedestrian-trafficked intersections in the county, and shot the man without hesitation," Donnelly said in the statement Wednesday, adding: "This defendant calmly walked away with the gun in his hand and then fled the scene. Thanks to great police work, he was apprehended approximately one month later . . . "

Ford also faces charges in other multiple open cases, including an attempted murder from May 2019, according to Donnelly. In that case, the news release from Donnelly said, Ford "allegedly shot a man at 100 Terrace Avenue in Hempstead."

Donnelly said Ford also faces charges stemming from a narcotics trafficking conspiracy case from 2019.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”