GANG CASE ARRESTS ARE MADE

Authorities arrested 14 alleged gang members who they charged had held
their central Harlem community "hostage" by conspiring to turn it into
a drug zone using guns, beatings and intimidating fellow members from
cooperating with police.

Known as the "137th Street Crew," the gang of mostly teenagers was a
collaboration between the "2 Mafia Family" and "Goons on Deck" gangs,
according to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance. He said the
gangs operated on 137th Street between Lenox and Seventh avenues.

"The gang over years created an environment where residents lived in a
state of fear, waiting for the next gunshot, or the next drug deal or
the next act of violence," Mr. Vance said. He said defendants
recruited children under 16 to haul guns, transport drugs and
participate in shootings, and used young women to "move firearms to
reduce the likelihood of guns being detected by authorities."

Of the 14 arrested, nine were 17 years old or younger when the
investigation began.

Charges include conspiracy to sell crack cocaine and weapons charges.
An alleged gang leader is charged with attempted murder for firing 10
rounds at a crowd near 137th Street and Lenox Avenue on July 5 during
a turf war with a rival gang.

Attorneys for many of the defendants argued their clients had little
or no criminal history and should be allowed to post bail. Jarel
Robinson, who is charged with two counts of conspiracy, was released
on his own recognizance. His attorney argued that the 17-year-old only
took and uploaded photos to social-networking sites of himself and
some of the gang members.

"What you have is gangsters and you have wannabe gangsters, but the
district attorney's office has thrown them in all together," said the
attorney, Anastasios Sarikas. "It is guilt by association and nothing
more."