U.S. PRESSES GANG CASE

Prosecutors Cite Photos, Phone Intercepts in Bid to Keep Alleged Members Jailed

ALBANY -- While several reputed members of an Arbor Hill street gang
gathered in mid-August to mark the birthday of a slain friend, Albany
detectives covertly snapped photographs from a distance. It is a
scene reminiscent of Hollywood mob movies, where agents track the
comings and goings at gangster funerals.

These photos, along with intercepted cellphone conversations and the
guidance of an unnamed turncoat gang member, lie at the center of a
yearlong investigation into what authorities say is the city's
largest and most violent gang.

Federal prosecutors in Albany hope the photos will bolster their
racketeering and conspiracy case, which could send more than two
dozen people allegedly connected to the Jungle Junkies street gang to
prison for decades.

Prosecutors outlined some of the evidence Tuesday in a bid to keep
two of the alleged gang members, Shaheem White and Deauntta Malloy,
in jail pending trial.

The detention hearings before U.S. Magistrate Judge David R. Homer
provided the first look at the government's attempt to use
anti-organized crime laws to break up the gang's alleged
crack-cocaine and marijuana sales ring.

Authorities said gang members defended their turf with gunfire and
broadcast their willingness to shoot rival gang members in homemade
rap CDs and DVDs.

But attorneys for White and Malloy said the government's case is
flimsy and relies on prior felony convictions to weakly link their
clients to the alleged conspiracy.

"This indictment is nothing more than a rehashing of what he has
already been charged with," defense attorney Cheryl Coleman said of
Malloy, 21, of Albany, who is known on the street as "Chef D."

"The government has chosen to charge him with crimes he has already
been convicted of," Coleman said.

A 24-page indictment unsealed last week lists Malloy's prior felony
drug conviction from 2003 as a well as a drug possession arrest in
April of this year, for which he has not been prosecuted. He is
currently on parole for his 2003 conviction.

Among the other evidence prosecutors offered against Malloy is a
letter he allegedly wrote from prison last year asking a female
friend if he could use her house as "a little spot 2 chill" when he
gets out, according to a pretrial detention motion filed by prosecutors.

"I basically just need a spot 2 stash my drugs and lay low at,"
Malloy allegedly wrote.

All 30 defendants named in the indictment and rounded up in raids on
Friday face federal drug-dealing charges.

But prosecutors are also using their past crimes to bolster the other
evidence, such as the photos and intercepted mail and phone
conversations, that they argue places 25 of the defendants in the
Jungle Junkies' criminal constellation.

White's attorney, Donald Kinsella, said prosecutors have offered no
proof his client committed any crime since he was paroled in March.
He said White, 20, has begun taking classes and even joined the
business technology club at Bryant & Stratton College in Albany.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Hartunian said White was one of
those photographed at the Aug. 18 gathering to mark the birthday of
Oursson Robinson, who, at 16, was shot and killed in 2003.

In the photographs, White is allegedly wearing the gang's logo of
"588," which corresponds on a numeric pad to the letters "LTT" --
short for the Junkies' old name of Looney Tunes Thugs, according to
court records.

Records show .22-caliber rifle bullets were also recovered from
White's home, which he shares with his grandparents in Albany. Gang
rap lyrics were also allegedly found.

"Frank Sinatra used to be in a lot of photos with criminals,"
Kinsella said, downplaying the significance of the surveillance and
contending the bullets belonged to White's grandfather, who has a
hunting license. "There's no proof that he's done anything other than
go to this birthday party since he's been on parole."

In their detention motion, prosecutors recounted an intercepted
cellphone conversation between reputed gang member [Name redacted] ,
19, and a man alleged to be a fellow gang member, [Name redacted] ,
18. Authorities eavesdropped on two of [Name redacted] cellphones for
36 days between August and September.

The conversation took place about a minute before someone opened fire
on Morton Avenue at midday on Sept. 25. Investigators believe rival
gang members might have showed up at [Name redacted] Morton Avenue home.

"Yo, you got that thing with you," [Name redacted] is quoted as saying.

"Yeah, but I'm on Morton Avenue," [Name redacted] replied, according
to court papers.

"Yo," [Name redacted] said, "clear them."

Homer declined to set bond for White and Molloy. Detention hearings
for their alleged co-conspirators are scheduled to continue today in
U.S. District Court in Albany.