Tierney: 18 alleged gang members charged with multiple crimes, including murder and attempted murder

​​Eighteen alleged members of the “No Fake Love” gang were charged in a 148-count indictment that includes charges related to the murder of a man outside a Farmingville nightclub, violent carjackings in Wading River and Wantagh, and the shooting of two teens outside Rep. Lee Zeldin’s home, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney and other law-enforcement officials said Monday. 

The indictment of the suspects covers 31 separate alleged crimes dating  to October 2021, according to Tierney, including six shootings, six armed robberies and the grand larceny or possession of 15 stolen vehicles. Three of the defendants are also charged with breaking into the home of a dog breeder and stealing six French bulldog puppies and their mother. 

“They branded themselves as ‘Everybody Killers,’” Tierney said, “which means they were willing to kill anybody and everybody who disrespected them or stood in their way.”

Ten of the 18 indicted defendants were taken into custody on Thursday, officials said, while seven others — including alleged gang leaders Keandreg Hudson and Janell Johnson, who authorities said issued orders from a Suffolk jail — were already in custody on other charges

The remaining defendant was arrested by Suffolk police on Monday. Sixteen of the defendants were arraigned last week in Riverhead before Judge Anthony Senft, and Tierney said they were either ordered held on high bail or remanded without bail.

Johnson's attorney Ian Fitzgerald said his client denies being a member of the gang. Attorney information was not immediately available for Hudson, who is scheduled for arraignment Friday.

The arrests were the result of a long-term investigation conducted by the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office and police in Suffolk, Nassau and Riverhead, as well as the district attorney’s office and other agencies.

Suffolk Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. said his office’s intelligence unit played a significant role in building the case. “This takedown is an example of collaborative police work at its finest,” Toulon said.

“Team effort, that is exactly what this was, a nice team effort,” Suffolk Police Commissoner Rodney K. Harrison said.

The NFL was a turf-based gang that considered Mastic and Shirley its territory, Tierney said, although its members committed crimes throughout Suffolk and Nassau. It includes members of other criminal street organizations, including the Crips and the Bloods, traditional rivals. Ties with those more established gangs, according to the indictment, provided members with protection, respect and direction from established high-level gang members throughout Suffolk. 

“What we are seeing more and more is that the gang affiliation is going further away from just Blood and Crip affiliation,” Tierney said. “You have these regionally based gangs. … It is sort of the way the gangs are evolving.” 

NFL members stole cars they later used to carry out shootings against rivals, Tierney said. They also sold the vehicles to buy guns. 

The crimes detailed in the indictment also include: 

-- The murder of Jorge Barrera on Dec. 5, 2021, in Farmingville. Authorities said defendant David Trent and an associate got into an argument with Barrera and others in the parking lot of Minx, a Farmingville nightclub. The conflict escalated and Trent, charged with second-degree murder in the indictment, allegedly pulled out a gun and shot Barrera. Trent's attorney, Christopher Gioe, did not immediately return a call for comment. 

— The armed carjacking and robbery of a Lyft driver on April 13, 2022, in Wading River. According to the indictment, defendant Shati Roy Jr. struck the driver of a Lyft ride-share, then Roy and Trent pointed guns at him and threatened to shoot before ordering him to get out of the car. Corey Foggy, another alleged NFL member, then jumped out of the vehicle and pulled the driver out of the car. Roy, Foggy and Trent are charged with first-degree robbery in this incident. "He pleaded not guilty," said Roy's attorney, John Halverson. "He denies any involvement in the gang."

Foggy's attorney, Anthony Rutowski, did not immediately return a call for comment. 

The driver, who suffered lacerations to his forehead, head and knee, seemed terrified during the ordeal in dashboard video Tierney displayed at the press conference. 

“What is instructive in that case is the glee in which they are undertaking the robbery and clearly, it appears, they are enjoying terrifying the Lyft driver,” Tierney said.

— The shooting of two teens outside Rep. Lee Zeldin’s home in Shirley on Oct. 9. Defendant Noah Green allegedly shot at three rival gang members that day, hitting two in the chest. The two boys who were shot attempted to hide in Zeldin’s yard, while the third fled on foot. Zeldin’s daughters were at home when the shootings took place. Green, already in custody, is charged with second-degree attempted murder. Green's attorney Christopher Cassar did not immediately return a request for comment. 

— The theft of seven French bulldogs on July 24, 2022. Co-defendants Romaine Hopkins, Marquize Pittman and Walter Jones broke into the home of a Suffolk County dog breeder and stole six puppies and their mother, officials said. The mother was later recovered from a dog shelter but the puppies have not been recovered. Tierney said the puppies are worth as much as $4,000 each. The three defendants were charged with second-degree burglary in this incident.

Hopkins' attorney Chris Killoran did not return a call for comment and Pittman's attorney Matthew Tuohy declined to comment. "Mr. Jones denies any gang affiliation," his attorney Scott Zerner said. "He is an artist. He committed no crime."