Date: 11-26-2024

Case Style:

United States of America v. Dwight Reid a/k/a “Dick Wolf”; Christopher Erskine a/k/a “Beagle”

Case Number: 20-CR-26

Judge: Philip M. Halpern

Court: The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: The States United Attorney’s Office in New York City

Defendant's Attorney:

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Description:

New York, NY criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendants charged with years-long leadership of the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation Bloods Gang
Two Highest-Ranking Leaders Of Gorilla Stone Bloods Gang Sentenced To 35 Years Each In Prison

DWIGHT REID, a/k/a “Dick Wolf,” and CHRISTOPHER ERSKINE, a/k/a “Beagle,” were both sentenced to 35 years in prison, respectively, for their years-long leadership of the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation Bloods Gang (“Gorilla Stone”), a brutally violent street and prison gang that operates across the country. REID, the gang’s highest-ranking member, is the gang’s founder and prison leader, and was sentenced on May 21, 2024. ERSKINE, the gang’s street leader, also known as the “Sun,” is the gang’s second highest-ranking member, and was sentenced today. The sentencings were imposed by the Honorable Philip M. Halpern following a nearly three-week trial last year, in which REID and ERSKINE were convicted of racketeering and narcotics offenses.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Dwight Reid and Christopher Erskine are the two highest-ranking members of Gorilla Stone, a ruthless gang, and are responsible for terrible violent acts and trafficking dangerous narcotics across the country and state, including throughout the New York State prison system. Reid and Erskine’s convictions and lengthy sentences, as well as our successful prosecution of many of the gang’s most senior and violent members, send an important message to gang leaders that they will be convicted and sentenced to significant terms in prison.”

According to the Indictment, public court filings, and statements made in court:

REID founded Gorilla Stone over 20 years ago. Gorilla Stone has many members across New York State, including throughout New York City, Westchester, Upstate New York, and the New York State Prison System, and all over the country — such as in Florida. Gorilla Stone is comprised of various sets (or “Caves,” as they are called by gang members). Gorilla Stone is a highly organized and efficient street gang with an organizational commitment to violence that strictly enforces its internal laws.

Among Gorilla Stone’s acts of violence are:

a September 2020 broad daylight murder of a teenager on a busy Poughkeepsie street;
an October 24, 2020 gang-related shooting outside of a Miami, Florida strip club, in which two rival gang members were shot and seriously wounded, requiring one to be airlifted from the scene;
multiple shootings and attempted murders, including an August 8, 2018 shooting in Brooklyn, New York, July 5, 2020 gang shootings at a house party in Miami, Florida, and a July 20, 2020 drive-by shooting in New Rochelle, New York;
a June 12, 2020 gunpoint drug-related robbery in Peekskill, New York; and
a vicious January 12, 2018 face slashing of a rival gang member on 125th Street in Manhattan outside a subway station.
As for the gang’s sources of revenue, in addition to some more traditional sources such as the proceeds of nationwide narcotics trafficking both inside and outside of prisons, Gorilla Stone is deeply involved in several fraud schemes that are well organized and sophisticated, and net a significant amount of money for the gang, including a fraudulent unemployment benefits scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Outcome:

Defendants were found guilty and both sentenced to 35 years in prison

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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