Bloods member Lameek Everette sentenced to 40 years in prison for double homicide in Bay Shore in 2016

A Bloods gang member convicted in the 2016 fatal shooting of two Suffolk County residents during a robbery was sentenced to 40 years in prison Friday.

Friends and relatives of the victims who spoke in Central Islip federal court asked U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown to impose a life sentence on Lameek Everette, 31, and they expressed anger and outrage after the sentencing hearing.

"This today was a tragedy," said Tim McKinnon of Manorville, the father of fatal shooting victim Janelle Curella, 28. McKinnon was one of several dozen supporters of shooting victims Curella, of Manorville, and David Arzu, 29, of Bay Shore, who packed the courtroom on Friday afternoon. "The judge was wrong. The judge was wrong, 40 years makes no sense. For murdering two innocent people and other heinous crimes? It is wrong. It’s a tragedy. We were victimized as a family and we are victimized again."

Everette, of Bay Shore, was convicted of racketeering in 2017, including predicate acts of robbery, attempted robbery and the killings of Curella and Arzu.

He apologized to the families of Curella and Arzu and said he accepted responsibility for his actions. "I can’t imagine the pain you are going through and the pain you will go through for the rest of your life," Everette said.

According to federal prosecutors, Everette and fellow Bloods member Taheem Smith brandished firearms during an attempt to rob Curella, Arzu and two friends near the Long Island Rail Road station in Bay Shore.

Arzu resisted after Everette and Smith demanded money and valuables from the group, and a struggle ensued. When Curella came to Arzu’s aid, Everette shot and killed her. Everette then shot Arzu multiple times, killing him, prosecutors said.

"How is it that you can be so soulless, so godless, to treat life with such low regard?" Curella’s mother Maria McKinnon asked, looking directly at Everette as she delivered a victim impact statement.

Arzu’s mother, Maria Van Pelt, told Everette that she forgave him for taking away her son and demanded that he look at her as she spoke. Van Pelt told Everette that he had left Arzu’s now 13-year-old son without a father. She had been diagnosed with a medical condition that would leave her paralyzed and eventually would kill her, but the condition was cleared up after the fatal shooting.

"I have to extend mercy to you, Lameek, because Jesus Christ was merciful to me," Van Pelt said.

Everette’s attorney, Anthony LaPinta, did not return a request for comment on the sentence.

LaPinta asked Brown for leniency, saying that Everette had grown up in a violent household and had been subjected to abuse and neglect as a child. Everette joined the Bloods looking for community and support, but was instead shot 10 times by a fellow gang member, leaving him in a coma for a long time.

The attorney said that Everette provided information about gang activities to authorities and had been deemed a credible witness, but Justice Department officials ended the agreement after discovering that Everette had lied to them about a shooting he said he had witnessed.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Misorek asked Brown to sentence Everette to life in prison, saying the information the defendant provided could not be used at trial. He said Everette had three previous convictions for violent crimes and told the judge that one of the racketeering counts involved the robbery and attempted murder of a drug dealer. Everette handcuffed the drug dealer to furniture and searched his home for drugs, the prosecutor said. When he could not find drugs, he lit the home on fire and shot the drug dealer and his dog. The drug dealer survived, Misorek said.

Brown said he chose to sentence Everette to 40 years in prison in part because the government offered a potential sentence of less than 20 years while Everette was a cooperator. He noted that Everette provided information to investigators about Smith, who was previously sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in the fatal shooting.