A Jamaica gang leader was convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn for gunning down a rival during a drive-by shooting in front of a Springfield Gardens bodega in 2019.
Christopher “Essay” Acevedo, 28, the founder and leader of the Wood City gang, was found guilty of murder in aid of racketeering and faces life in prison following a three-week trial in Brooklyn federal court. The jury returned the guilty verdict after just 20 minutes of deliberation on May 8, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
The evidence presented at trial established that since at least 2010, the Wood City gang, whose members lived around Woodhull Avenue in Jamaica, was engaged in racketeering activity, including murder, drug trafficking and various forms of fraud and identity theft.
Since at least 2011, the Wood City gang engaged in a turf war with its rival “Snow Gang,” another violent gang based in Queens, according to prosecutors. During this period, members of Wood City and Snow Gang would regularly taunt and insult each other using social media platforms and phone calls.
On Aug. 26, 2019, members of Snow Gang, including one of its leaders, David Hutchinson, robbed a gold “YTB” chain from a high-ranking member of Wood City while he was at a Hillside recording studio, prosecutors said. Shortly after the robbery, the Snow Gang leader posted a photo of himself wearing the YTB chain on social media. As a leader of Wood City, Acevedo was expected to retaliate for the chain-snatching to protect his gang’s reputation.
The defendant and other Wood City members drove to Snow Gang territory in a white BMW sedan and spotted a vehicle with the Snow Gang leader who had robbed the chain and other members and associates of Snow Gang. After following that vehicle to the front of Garden’s Deli, at 140-14 Springfield Blvd.
Acevedo pulled alongside the white Dodge Charger and fired a dozen shots, striking Hutchinson three times in his torso as he…
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