Twenty-Two Alleged Members of Folk Nation Gang Charged in Conspiracy Indictment That Includes 26 Shootings

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, June 25, 2026

Twenty-Two Alleged Members of Folk Nation Gang
Charged in Conspiracy Indictment That Includes 26 Shootings

One Homicide, 12 Non-Fatal Shootings in Brooklyn and Manhattan with 22 Victims, Including Three Innocent Bystanders;13 Additional Shootings Where No One Was Injured

[Note: materials displayed during the press conference are available here]

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and New York Governor Kathy Hochul, together with New York City Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch, today announced that 22 alleged members of two subsets of the Folk Nation street gang ("Renegade Goons" and "OOs") are variously charged in a 176-count indictment with conspiracy to commit murder, possess weapons and related charges.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, "These alleged gang members are responsible for dozens of separate shootings and other acts of violence all across Brooklyn and beyond, with 23 victims, including one fatality. The type of wanton shootings alleged in this indictment will not be tolerated in Brooklyn as the NYPD and my office are committed to targeting the crews and trigger pullers that cause the most harm in our communities. The consistent support we have been receiving from Governor Hochul has helped in conducting strategic takedowns such as this, which play a key role in the historic drop in gun violence across Brooklyn."

Governor Hochul said, "Keeping New Yorkers safe is my top priority. That is why I have invested more than $3 billion in law enforcement and public safety - investments that empower our local police departments and District Attorneys to investigate and prosecute those who threaten our communities. This indictment is proof that when we give our law enforcement partners the tools they need, crime declines and New Yorkers are safer."

Commissioner Tisch said, "The 22 alleged gang members indicted today are responsible for 26 shootings that left 23 people victimized, including one person killed. NYPD continues to drive down crime and shooting incidents to record lows because we continue to dismantle gangs, remove guns from our streets, and hold criminals accountable, just as we are doing in this case. I thank the men and women of the NYPD's Gun Violence Suppression Division for doing the important and dangerous work of taking down violent crews, and the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office for their partnership in pursuing justice."

The defendants were arraigned yesterday in Brooklyn Supreme Court on a 176-count indictment in which they are variously charged with second- and fourth-degree conspiracy, second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. The defendants were either remanded or are being held on high bail. All but five defendants are charged with attempted murder for allegedly pulling the trigger during a shooting.

The District Attorney said the indictment is the result of a long-term investigation by the District Attorney's Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau and the NYPD's Gun Violence Suppression Division into the violence allegedly committed by members and associates of two allied subsets of the violent Folk Nation street gang known as the "Renegade Goons," hereinafter referred to as the RG, and the "OOs," pronounced "Double Ohs."

The District Attorney said that, according to the indictment, over the course of the conspiracy, from October 2022 to the present, there was an alignment between Folk's historic strongholds in Brooklyn: subsets operating out of the Ebbets Field apartment complex in Crown Heights, Newkirk Avenue in Flatbush, the Flatbush Gardens apartments (formerly the Vanderveers). The OOs are the latest generation of Folk operating out of Ebbets Field, while the RG is the newest iteration of the Flatbush/East Flatbush Folk.

The main rivals of the Folk alliance include various Bloods subsets, including the 59 Brims operating out of Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island, and elsewhere; various Crips subsets including the 8-Trey Crips, Grape Street Crips and Insane Crip Gangsters (ICG), all in Flatbush and East Flatbush; Canarsie WOO as well as the Brownsville WOOO.

It is alleged that the alliance between RG and OO was promoted by its members on social media and was reinforced through acts of violence and attempted acts of violence, including retaliation for the killings of fellow Folk Nation members Jamel Nicholson, a.k.a., "Melly Gzs," and Lawrence Augustin, a.k.a., "Lo Bandz." Nicholson was killed on October 31, 2022, in Sheepshead Bay, allegedly by 59 Brim members Tyshawn Ware and Ron Thomas. Defendant Gabriel Modeste allegedly retaliated that night by shooting an individual wearing a WOO sweatshirt in the buttocks near the Regal movie theater in Union Square in Manhattan. Augustin was killed on September 18, 2023, in Crown Heights. No arrests have been made in that shooting.

It is alleged that RG and OO members committed 26 shootings during the conspiracy, including the following:

• On September 19, 2023, a day after the murder of Folk member Lawrence Augustin, Folk members leaving a vigil for him allegedly walked into rival Grape Street Crips' territory and shot at rivals sitting on a stoop. An innocent bystander, a 59-year-old woman, was struck in the head when a bullet ricocheted off a building. She suffered superficial laceration.

• On April 27, 2024, it is alleged, defendant Shamear Webster, and another individual traveled to Utica Avenue and Church Avenue, near a barbershop where a rival, Martense Blood associate Daequan Buckley, was inside. The two watched the barbershop for approximately 20 minutes and looked in the window several times. When Buckley walked out of the barbershop to his parked car directly outside, Webster allegedly ran up to him and shot at him five times. Buckley was taken to Brookdale Hospital and pronounced dead.

• On May 19, 2024, it is alleged, Folk members Ronaldinho Mareus, Molefi Williams, and two others, were in the vicinity of Church Avenue and Utica Avenue, in 8-Trey territory, when they were seen by an 8-Trey member who alerted other gang members, then pulled out a firearm and shot. Defendant Mareus then took out a firearm and shot back. An innocent bystander, a 39-year-old woman, was struck in her right thigh and treated at Kings County Hospital.

• On July 15, 2024, it is alleged, defendants Zakai Greene, Justice Cummins, Tukoy Gillespie, Jaron Dennis, Anthony Saunders, Elijah Franck, and Markel Henry, took a subway to Downtown Brooklyn. Gillespie was then stabbed in an elevator inside Brooklyn Supreme Court at 320 Jay Street, allegedly by a 59 Brim member. Meanwhile, it is alleged, another 59 Brim member was seen on video surveillance getting into an Uber outside Court and was followed by some of the Folk members. When the car stopped at a red light a few blocks away, it is alleged, defendant Saunders pulled out a gun and fired at the back window of the Uber. The 59 Brim member in the vehicle was not struck but suffered lacerations from the broken glass.

• It is alleged that on December 14, 2025, defendants Deremous Wilder and Gabriel Rhoden, traveled to Atlantic Avenue in East New York, where a Sweet 16 party was being held and opened fire on a group of party guests outside the venue, striking six people ranging in age from 15 to 17. They all survived their injuries.

The investigation was conducted by Detectives Christian Villacis and Daniel O'Hare, under the supervision of Sergeant David Zayas, all of the New York City Police Department Gun Violence Suppression Division.

The District Attorney thanked Digital Evidence Lab Analyst Brooke Allen, under the supervision of Unit Chief Jingu Chong; Paralegals Harline Aimable, Dian Fields Vernon, Abigail Marshall, Catherine Prigov, Vincent Ryan, and Shanoy Williams under the supervision of Supervising Paralegal Marta Kuklik; members of the District Attorney's School Advocacy Bureau; and KCDA Detective Investigators assigned to the Special Investigations Unit.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorneys Katerina Kurteva, Douglas Steinberg, Edward Appelbaum, and Tien-Kha Tran of the District Attorney's Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Gillian DiPietro, Deputy Bureau Chief, and Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Cilia, First Deputy Bureau Chief, and Assistant District Attorney Alfred DeIngeniis, Bureau Chief.

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An indictment is merely an accusation and not proof of a defendant's guilt.

DEFENDANT ADDENDUM:

1. Nathon Bess, 22.
2. Roberto Brown, 17.
3. Justice Cummins, 22.
4. Jaron Dennis, 18.
5. Akim Diahka, 18.
6. Armani Garraway, 20.
7. Tukoy Gillespie, 22.
8. Lashajuan Glasgow, 22.
9. Bryce Gonzales, 25.
10. Zakai Greene, 21.
11. Jacob Lubin, 26.
12. Ronaldinho Mareus, 18
13. Gabriel Modeste, 21.
14. Kareem Moore, 17.
15. Mark Ottey, 20.
16. Gabriel Rhoden, 17.
17. Anthony Saunders, 18.
18. Kemar Saunders, 20.
19. Phillip Simon, 19.
20. Winston Simon, 22.
21. Shamear Webster, 21.
22. Deremous Wilder, 17.

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