Gang member pleads guilty to 2020 Poughkeepsie teen death
WHITE PLAINS – A gang member pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to conspiracy to commit criminal activity in connection with the shooting death of a 16-year-old boy who was a bystander during a gang brawl in Poughkeepsie, prosecutors said.
Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Elijah Bermudez, also known as “Quiet,” 31, of New York City, entered the guilty plea in connection with his criminal activities as a member of the Bully Hard Hunna Blood gang, including his role as a shooter in the June 20, 2020, shooting death of 16-year-old bystander Frederick Wells.
The gunshot death was the result of a dispute between members of Bully Hard and a rival group of Bloods calling themselves the “Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation.”
This dispute led to a retaliatory shooting on September 21, 2020, in which another victim, 15-year-old Jalani Jones, also of Poughkeepsie, was shot in broad daylight.
According to allegations in the indictment, as well as information and statements in public records and in court, from early 2020 through April 2022, Bermudez was a member or associate of Bully Hard, whose members and associates were involved in murders, robberies, drug trafficking, and fraud, among other activities. They were active in New York City and communities in the upstate region, including Poughkeepsie.
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On June 20, 2020, Bermudez shot Wells near Charles Street in Poughkeepsie. That night, Bermudez and another member of Bully Hard got into a physical altercation with members of the rival Gorilla Stone gang.
At this point, a member of the Gorilla Stones was standing next to Wells, a school friend who was not a member of a gang and was watching the altercation as a spectator.
Prosecutors said Bermudez then stabbed the Gorilla Stone member, picked up another Bully Hard member’s gun that had fallen on the ground and shot Wells as he tried to flee.
Wells was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head.
Williams said Bermudez pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit organized crime, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted; one count of criminal possession of ammunition, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted; and one count of conspiracy to possess ammunition after conviction of a serious felony, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted.
Sentencing for Bermudez by U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Roman is scheduled for October 17.
His lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment.
Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at [email protected].
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