The leader of a prominent gang based out of Brooklyn faces life in jail after being found guilty of multiple offenses.
Quandel Smothers, identified by prosecutors as the head of the Elite Assassin Millas (E.A.M.) gang, was convicted by a Brooklyn federal jury this week for racketeering conspiracy and possessing a firearm this week in abetting a drug trafficking crime.
Following his conviction, the 32-year-old Brooklyn man faces a maximum life sentence in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of at least five years.
“Today’s verdict is welcome news to the people of East New York, who will no
longer have to face the defendant’s destructive impact on their neighborhood,” said Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
“Our communities should not have to live in fear of unprompted violence from the defendant and his gang.”
According to trial evidence, Smothers — also known as Chucky — and E.A.M. operated out of East New York from 2006 to 2019, giving the location the nickname “Gun Town.” During that time, Smothers and his gang had committed acts of fraud in addition to trafficking various drugs, such as cocaine and marijuana.
In 2011, Smothers shot an E.A.M member who he thought was about to hurt another gang member due to a drug-related argument. The incident resulted in the gang member who was shot had to get his leg amputated.
During the time period when Smothers was the gang’s leader, it was found that E.A.M. engaged in several conflicts with various neighborhood street gangs in East New York, which frequently led to shootouts between the groups.
As a result of these shoot-outs, E.A.M. had left several people paralyzed, as well as murdered an individual named Michael Tenorio, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.
Back in 2020, six other members of E.A.M had pleaded guilty to murder, assault, conspiracy to commit murder, and interstate stalking.
