Bloods gang associate sentenced in killing of 'unintended victim,' prosecutors say
A Bloods gang associate was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for the 2015 fatal shooting of a man who was struck in a hail of bullets meant for his friend, authorities said Monday.
Jason Langhorn, 40, of Riverhead, was also given three years of supervised release when he was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert in federal court in Central Islip in the death of Thomas Lacolla, 27, of Riverhead.
Langhorn, who is also known as “Hov” and who prosecutors said is an associate of the “Red Stone Gorilla” set of the Bloods, pleaded guilty last year to firearms-related murder in Lacolla’s killing.
“Langhorn has been held accountable for his role in a heartless shooting that claimed the life of an unintended victim,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement Monday. “We hope today’s sentence brings a measure of solace and closure to the victim’s family and sends a clear message that those who commit brutal acts of gang violence will be brought to justice and punished.”
Lacolla was sitting in a car in Riverside on Nov. 17, 2015, with intended victim Trendell Walker, an alleged Bloods rival, when Langhorn and two other Bloods gang members opened fire, spraying the car with 39 bullets, prosecutors said. There was a “standing order by the leader of the gang to kill” Walker, and Langhorn and the other shooters had weapons that included an assault rifle, prosecutors said. Lacolla was killed instantly.
Walker survived and in 2019 pleaded guilty to the firearm-related murder of 15-year-old Alvin Brothers on Aug. 7, 2007.
Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.
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