“Southside” Gang Member Pleads Guilty To Newburgh Club Murder In Connection With Racketeering Conspiracy

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that TROY YOUNG, a/k/a “Hollywood,” pled guilty today to involvement in a racketeering conspiracy in connection with his membership in “Southside,” a violent street gang that operated in the City of Newburgh, New York.  YOUNG also pled guilty to murdering Gevontay Owens-Grant, a gang rival, after an altercation broke out at a Valentine’s Day-themed party at a Newburgh club.  YOUNG and others were also injured during the shooting.  YOUNG faces a maximum term of life in prison and will be sentenced before United States District Judge Cathy Seibel later this year.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Troy Young has admitted to shooting at gang rivals during a crowded Valentine’s Day party and to killing 21-year-old Gevontay Owens-Grant.  This murder demonstrated a disregard for the value of human life that epitomizes these senseless gang rivalries.  Young now faces a significant term in prison for this shooting, the type of tragic event that happens too often on our city streets.”

According to the Indictment and other documents filed in the case, as well as statements made during the plea proceedings:

From at least 2014 through June 2017, the Southside gang was a criminal enterprise centered in and around the intersection of South Street and Chambers Street in an area of Newburgh also known as the “Southside.”  In order to gain funds for the gang, protect the gang’s territory, and promote the gang’s standing, members of Southside engaged in, among other things, narcotics trafficking, robbery, and acts involving murder.  To that end, Southside members sold heroin, crack cocaine, and marijuana in the gang’s territory, promoted their gang affiliation on social media sites such as Facebook, possessed firearms, and engaged in shootings as part of their gang membership.

YOUNG was a member of Southside.  On February 12, 2017, YOUNG, aided and abetted by others, murdered Owens-Grant, who was from another part of Newburgh, after a fight broke out during a party at a club.  Multiple other people fired guns inside and outside the club that night, and several others were injured, including YOUNG, who was partially paralyzed after being shot the same night he killed Owens-Grant.

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YOUNG, 24, of Newburgh, was arrested in January 2018 as a result of a multi-year investigation by the FBI’s Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force and the City of Newburgh Police Department into gang violence in Newburgh.  On June 14, 2017, Indictment 17 Cr. 364 (CS) was unsealed, charging 20 members and associates of Southside with racketeering conspiracy, narcotics conspiracy, and firearms charges.  Superseding Indictment S1 17 Cr. 364 (CS), unsealed in January of 2018, charged YOUNG, added additional firearms charges against certain defendants, and charged four defendants with committing two separate murders as part of their involvement in Southside, including the murder of Owens-Grant.  To date, 18 defendants have pled guilty.

Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco, and Explosives, and the City of Newburgh Police Department.  Mr. Berman thanked the Orange County District Attorney’s Office for its invaluable ongoing assistance in the case.  Mr. Berman also thanked the Town of Newburgh Police Department, the New York State Police, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, the Town of New Windsor Police Department, and the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision for their assistance in the case.

This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division.  Assistant United States Attorneys Jacqueline Kelly, Allison Nichols, Maurene Comey, and Samuel Raymond are in charge of the prosecution.