Hempstead Crips gang members who 'celebrated murder' charged in 3 slayings, multiple shootings and other crimes, feds say

Eight alleged members of a Hempstead street gang federal prosecutors said "celebrated murder" were charged Thursday in a 59-count indictment for racketeering, murder conspiracy, attempted kidnapping, fraud and various weapons charges, law enforcement officials said at a news conference.

Some of the eight members of the Insane Crip Gang are accused of slayings in Nassau County from 2016 to 2021, and federal prosecutors said the indictment spans 20 shootings overall, including an incident in which two Nassau County police officers were fired at during a traffic stop. More than 25 guns were used in the crimes, prosecutors said.

“The defendants, as alleged, celebrated murder, they celebrated it by boasting of their violent crimes and proudly brandishing their guns,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Pokorny. “These charges are the culmination of a yearslong investigation into escalating violence between gang members here on Long Island.”

Pokorny said that while much of the violence was directed at members of rival gangs, it terrorized innocent residents of Nassau County. She credited investigators from the FBI and the Nassau County Police Department and district attorney’s office with building a case that helped federal prosecutors secure the indictment unsealed Thursday.

Charged in the indictment were Akeem Chambers, 21, of Uniondale; Jahziah Dindyal, 19, of Hempstead; Jonathan Gonzalez, 23, of Greensboro, North Carolina; Lesly Pardo, 26, of Mount Sinai; Rob Pardo, 25, of Mount Sinai; Jalen Rogers, 20 of Hempstead; and Jonathan Vazquez, 21, of Hempstead.

Six of the defendants were arrested and scheduled to be arraigned at the federal courthouse in Central Islip Thursday afternoon. Gonzalez was to be arraigned in North Carolina. One defendant remained at large, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Chambers, who prosecutors described as a ranking member of the gang, commonly referred to as ICG, is linked in the indictment to the September 2021 robbery and slaying of James Diamond in Freeport and an August 2020 killing of Thiasia Williams in Hempstead.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said Diamond was robbed in a planned attack after he picked up a $50,000 check from a lawsuit. Williams was outside at a party when Chambers and others committed a drive-by shooting, the district attorney said.

Prosecutors said Chambers took part in more than a dozen shootings from 2020 to 2022.

“One defendant, more than a dozen shootings, two people dead,” Donnelly said of Chambers. “Completely senseless violence on the streets of Nassau County. Lives ruined.”

Chambers was also described as the leader of a subset of younger members of the gang referred to as KTK: Kids to Killers, prosecutors said. They used social media to recruit younger members by sharing their violent exploits online, Pokorny said.

Prosecutors linked Vazquez to the November 2016 death of Joecephus Vanable in Hempstead, a killing they say was celebrated in graffiti, rap videos and on social media. Lesly Pardo, a rapper, was the "lead promoter of the ICG" through his music videos, prosecutors said.

The indictment also accuses the gang of organizing its members to secure more than $200,000 in unemployment benefits from the State of California during the COVID-19 pandemic, even sharing a manual with members for how to claim the benefits. Small business loans were also fraudulently secured, Pokorny said.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said his department’s strong working relationship with the FBI creates a tough opponent for street gangs.

“We are dedicated, determined, and we're going to make sure that we give our victims a voice every single time,” Ryder said.

Other incidents outlined by law enforcement Thursday involving the eight indicted defendants include a gunpoint robbery of a female car dealership employee in Bay Shore and shootings at an undisclosed motel in Freeport, a Ramada hotel in Rockville Centre and the BP gas station in Hempstead.

Pokorny said while much of the focus of the investigation was in Nassau County, the gang has members across Long Island. Donnelly described the indictment as a “dismantling” of the gang.

“Any time you take down the leaders of the gang, it helps to break down the other members,” Donnelly said. “And in this case, we were able to target and take down most of the leaders of this gang.”

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.