Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York Bridget G. Brennan, Special Narcotics Prosecutor

80 CENTRE STREET, SIXTH FLOOR NEW YORK, NY 10013 212-815-0400, GEN. 212-815-0440, FAX

Press Release
Wednesday, October 18th, 2006
Magda Gandasegui, Director of Public Information
(212) 815-0525

NEW YORK CITY SPECIAL NARCOTICS PROSECUTOR BRIDGET G. BRENNAN THE CONVICTION OF THE LAST THREE MEMBERS OF A ROBBERY RING

New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan announced today that after a two-week trial, Jovanny Rodriguez, Leonardo Antigua and Reyes Rodriguez were convicted of Conspiracy to Commit a Gunpoint Robbery.  The guilty verdict marks the end of an investigation that led to the imprisonment of 11 members of a ring that mainly specialized in armed robberies targeting individuals and locations believed to have drugs and narcotics proceeds.  The case began as an off-shoot of  Operation Untouchables—an investigation that ended in May that dismantled a group responsible for kidnappings, burglaries and drug related robberies in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens.

The investigation, conducted jointly by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor and the Drug Enforcement Task Force’s REDRUM Unit, established that the defendants planned and attempted to carry out a robbery in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx involving over 400 pounds of cocaine. On the night of September 1, 2005, all ring members congregated at a McDonald’s restaurant in the vicinity of Garrison Avenue and Tiffany Street. They proceeded to the corner of Longfellow and Oakpoint Avenues by the Joseph Rodman Drake Park in four separate cars, including a Chevy Lumina Van resembling vehicles used law enforcement, where they were arrested by authorities.  Police recovered an M16 Assault Rifle, a 380. Automatic Handgun, 30 rounds of ammunition, numerous flexible handcuffs and binoculars.

Jovanny Rodriguez, Leonardo Antigua and Reyes Rodriguez are scheduled to be sentenced on November 3, 2006 by Judge Michael Obus. All the other defendants in this case pleaded guilty prior to trial.

Hoping for a 400-pound cocaine prize, the caravan of robbers headed from Tiffany and Garrison Streets to Oakpoint and Longfellow Avenues in the Bronx.	This assault rifle and semi-automatic rifle were recovered from a vehicle the night of the planned robbery.