Feds: Alleged Suffolk gang leader 'ruthlessly ordered' rivals shot

The alleged leader of a Suffolk street gang "ruthlessly ordered" members to carry out at least four shootings of rivals to protect a trafficking operation that brought firearms, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl to Long Island, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Jussiah Herbert, 26, of North Carolina, who prosecutors said headed up the Bloodhound Brims, was charged, along with alleged gang members Brandon Hicks, 21, of Hauppauge, and Janell Johnson, 20, of Shirley, with racketeering, attempted murder in the aid of racketeering, assault, attempted assault in the aid of racketeering, narcotics possession and distribution, and a host of firearms counts, according to 22-count indictment unsealed Wednesday in Central Islip federal court.

Herbert, who has not yet been assigned a lawyer, was arrested Wednesday in Blanch, North Carolina and will make an initial appearance Thursday in federal court in Winston-Salem, authorities said.

Prosecutors with the Eastern District of New York did not say whether Herbert lived on Long Island at the time he allegedly ordered the shootings, which took place between August 2020 and September 2021, or gave the directive from afar.

"Herbert showed zero regard for others by ordering his underlings to carry out shootings that wounded numerous victims and endangered the community just so he could maintain and increase the violent reputation of the ruthless street gang that he led,” said Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in a news release.

Hicks was previously arrested and charged in April 2021 for separate federal narcotics and firearms offenses. Johnson was arrested last December in connection with separate state conspiracy charges. Both men are currently incarcerated and awaiting trial on the earlier charges. They will be arraigned on the new federal charges at a later date, officials said.

In a detention motion requesting that Herbert be held without bail, prosecutors said he was the leader of a set of Bloodhound Brims operating in Suffolk County that trafficked drugs and transported guns from Alabama for use in the gang's criminal activities.

Herbert allegedly directed gang members, including Hicks, to shoot members of rival gangs twice in August of 2020 and again in October of 2020 in Brentwood, Central Islip and West Babylon, the indictment states. Four people were shot and suffered nonfatal injuries, prosecutors said.

In a fourth shooting, in September 2021 in Bay Shore, prosecutors said, Herbert and other alleged Bloodhound Brims members, including Johnson, fired multiple rounds at individuals whom they believed to be rival gang members. At the time, Herbert was on five-years probation following a conviction for selling heroin in Nassau County, according to prosecutors.

Under Herbert's direction, according to the detention memo, the Bloodhound Brims were responsible for trafficking more than 500 grams of cocaine, in excess of 100 grams of heroin and more than 40 grams of fentanyl on Long Island island.

“Jussiah Herbert is accused of using violence, fear, and intimidation to maintain his leadership of the Bloodhound Brims street gang,” said Ivan Arvelo, special agent in charge of the New York office of Homeland Security Investigations. “He is alleged to have ruthlessly ordered gang members to commit horrific acts, including attempted murder against suspected rival gang members to further his criminal enterprise and control Long Island neighborhoods so the BHB could thrive."

As recently as six weeks ago, Herbert sought information about the whereabouts of a rival gang member that he wanted to locate, assault and rob, according to the detention memo.

If convicted, Herbert faces up 60 years in federal prison.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.