Members of a homicidal Harlem drug gang that ran a multi-million dollar crack-cocaine business stretching from New York to Alabama may soon be behind bars for good, U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White said Thursday. White announced that federal racketeering charges were being brought against 10 men believed to be members of the infamous 'Lynchmob' gang that allegedly killed 15 people and terrorized the streets of Harlem for nearly five years. 'This marks a great day for the residents of the 32nd Precinct,' White said. 'We have cut off the head and removed the heart of this brutal organization, and the results are already visible on the streets. ' The homicide rate in the Harlem precinct has plummeted by 54 percent since the alleged enforcer of the group, nicknamed 'Homicide Lou,' was arrested last year, following a killing near Columbia University, police reported. 'Homicide Lou,' identified as Louis Griffin, 30, has been charged with murdering 10 people and attempting to kill three others. 'The Lynchmob had reached maturity. It had wiped out its rivals on the streets of Harlem and was branching out,' said Detective Ray Maher. 'They had moved in on Maryland and even as far as North Carolina. One of the murders was in Alabama. Anyone crossed them and watch out.' The Lynchmobmade millions of dollars annually, running a retail drug business in New York and selling hundreds of kilograms of cocaine wholesale to clients outside of New York City, White said.
The name 'Lynchmob' struck terror in the hearts of local residents who feared reprisal if they spoke with police, Maher said. Gang members became so brazenly bold that in one incident, they allegedly donned doctors' garb in a failed attempt to assassinate a victim who had survived 15 bullets wounds and was recovering at Mount Sinai Hospital, authorities said. Members of the gang held court on the corner of 142ns Street and Lenox Avenue, wearing T-shirts that showed the silhouette of a man hanged from a tenement building and sported the name of the gang, police said. 'The big break came in August of 1994, when Homicide Lou wandered out of the Lynchmob's turf for a hit near Columbia University...the day students were moving in,' Maher said. 'Outside of their neighborhood nobody ever heard of them. And people weren't afraid to step forward and talk.' Accused of killing 10 people, 'Homicide Lou' could face the death penalty if convicted, officials said. The other 9 men indicted Thursday each face up to life in prison. 'This marks a turning point. The FBI and local law enforcement are working together to root-out the most violent of the drug gangs,' said James Kallstrom, assistant director of the FBI's Manhattan office. 'We are treating drug gangs much in the same way as we would organized crime like the Mafia. And that will help nip them in the bud.'
The name 'Lynchmob' struck terror in the hearts of local residents who feared reprisal if they spoke with police, Maher said. Gang members became so brazenly bold that in one incident, they allegedly donned doctors' garb in a failed attempt to assassinate a victim who had survived 15 bullets wounds and was recovering at Mount Sinai Hospital, authorities said. Members of the gang held court on the corner of 142ns Street and Lenox Avenue, wearing T-shirts that showed the silhouette of a man hanged from a tenement building and sported the name of the gang, police said. 'The big break came in August of 1994, when Homicide Lou wandered out of the Lynchmob's turf for a hit near Columbia University...the day students were moving in,' Maher said. 'Outside of their neighborhood nobody ever heard of them. And people weren't afraid to step forward and talk.' Accused of killing 10 people, 'Homicide Lou' could face the death penalty if convicted, officials said. The other 9 men indicted Thursday each face up to life in prison. 'This marks a turning point. The FBI and local law enforcement are working together to root-out the most violent of the drug gangs,' said James Kallstrom, assistant director of the FBI's Manhattan office. 'We are treating drug gangs much in the same way as we would organized crime like the Mafia. And that will help nip them in the bud.'
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