Today in federal court in Brooklyn, Leo Oliver pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of ammunition in connection with a non-fatal shooting of a man in East New York, Brooklyn. When sentenced, Oliver faces up to 10 years in prison.
“With today’s plea, the community can begin to heal from the callous violence the defendant brazenly inflicted in public places,” said Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “My Office is deeply committed to holding repeat offenders who engage in gun violence, like the defendant, fully accountable for their actions.”
According to the indictment, Oliver committed two shootings in East New York, Brooklyn in 2020 and 2021.
On the evening of July 8, 2020, the defendant shot his first victim at a bodega. The victim was working behind the counter when, after a dispute, Oliver brandished a black firearm from his pocket, and shot him in the chest and hand, before fleeing in an SUV. A .380 shell casing was recovered from the scene. The victim was hospitalized but survived.
Oliver committed a second shooting on September 25, 2021 following an argument with a second victim on the sidewalk on Van Siclen Avenue in Brooklyn. As the victim and Oliver engaged in a verbal dispute, Oliver shot the victim in his torso, before fleeing on foot. The second victim was hospitalized but survived. Two .380 shell casing were recovered at the scene.
After the shootings the defendant attempted to destroy evidence and conceal his crimes. He deleted firearm evidence from his cell phone, and threw the firearm used in the 2020 shooting into a river.
“For years, Leo Oliver caused immense harm to the Brooklyn community through his reckless acts of violence and justice has finally caught up with him. I commend the efforts of HSI New York's Violent Gang Task Force for successfully identifying Oliver, a repeat offender whose rap sheet boasted seven prior felonies, as the perpetrator in multiple shootings in East New York over a two-year period,” said HSI New York Acting Special Agent in Charge Erin Keegan.
The defendant has at least ten other prior convictions, including at least seven felony convictions.
