Gang members ‘pay the piper’
ROBERT GAVIN (Times Union) | July 5, 2011
ALBANY — Two high-ranking Bloods gang members were sentenced Tuesday to more than 140 years in state prison for trafficking tens of thousands of dollars worth of heroin to the Capital Region from New York City and Long Island.
Ronald “Nino” Wright, 32, Erick “E-Murder” Cochran, 28, who belonged to an Albany-based Bloods crew known as “G-Shine,” were found guilty June 7 on 58 counts of crimes following a trial before Judge Thomas Breslin in Albany County Court.
On Tuesday, the judge sentenced the gang members to the maximum time possible under the law, as requested by the state attorney general’s office.
Cochran’s consecutive sentences add up to 170 years in prison, Wright’s to 141 years. Because of prison sentencing rules, Wright can serve no more than 44 years behind bars. Cochran will serve no more than 30 years.
Assistant Deputy Attorney General Michael Sharpe, who prosecuted the case, told the judge that Cochran, in three weeks alone, trafficked tens of thousands of dollars in heroin to the Albany area.
Breslin told Cochran he was a businessman plying his illegal trade on the streets of Albany.
“Your business is selling drugs and today’s the day you pay the piper,” Breslin told the gang member.
He told Cochran he would be “out of business for at least 30 years.”
Authorities said Wright, a Bloods leader, moved heroin from Brooklyn to Hempstead, where he ran a Bloods crew. He would ship the heroin to Albany where Cochran would sell it.
Wright argued Tuesday that he received ineffective legal representation and that his phone was illegally wiretapped by authorities.
“Nobody ever proved (anything), that I’m supplying,” he said, wearing an outfit from the Albany County jail identifying him as a security risk. “Everything was illegally obtained. My phone was just intercepted.”
Tags: Albany, bloods, Brooklyn, Erick "E-Murder" Cochran, G-Shine, Hempstead, illegally wiretapped, pay the piper, Ronald "Nino" Wright, trafficking heroin
Posted by Lora
on Jul 5 2011. Filed under News.
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