Bronx man 2nd sentenced for violent carjackings on Long Island

A Bronx man faces more than five years in prison for his role in a series of armed carjackings on Long Island in which he and another defendant "used threats and violence to terrorize multiple victims," federal prosecutors said.

Judge Dora L. Irizarry sentenced Jaquell Blackwell, 21, in federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday to 63 months behind bars, the office of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. said in a news release. Blackwell previously pleaded guilty to participating in a pair of carjackings in Garden City and a third in Elmont.

His sentencing followed that of another Bronx man in December for taking part in one of the Garden City carjackings as well as two others in Massapequa and South Farmingdale. On Dec. 18, Irizarry sentenced Abdoul Azika, 21, to 87 months in federal prison, the Nocella's office said in the release.

Both men "were members of the violent ‘5zzly’ crew of the Bronx-based Blood Hounds Brims gang that has engaged in a string of armed carjackings and robberies across New York City and on Long Island," the U.S. attorney's office said.

"For more than a year, the defendants and their co-conspirators engaged in a pattern of armed carjackings targeting hardworking New Yorkers," Nocella added.

Blackwell's defense attorney, Sabrina Shroff, declined to comment when reached by Newsday late Tuesday. A defense attorney for Azika could not be reached for comment.

The carjacking Azika and Blackwell committed together took place on March 19, 2023, when they opened the doors of a vehicle parked in a residential area of Garden City, brandished a gun and a knife at the driver and ordered him out of the vehicle, according to the release. The driver obeyed and the pair stole the vehicle.

Blackwell and other co-conspirators committed armed carjackings on June 26, 2022, in Garden City and June 7, 2023, in Elmont, prosecutors said. In both instances, the drivers were beaten. During the 2022 carjacking, the victim was initially dragged out of his car, then forced back in and taken to ATMs to try and withdraw cash.

Azika and co-conspirators brandished guns and beat drivers during two armed vehicle robberies on June 5, 2022, that occurred in Massapequa and South Farmingdale, according to the release.