NEW YORK, NY – An indictment against a former NYC school dean has been reported by the Department of Justice. In the bizarre case, the feds are alleging a school dean was the leader of a violent street gang who carried out shootings in the city. The dean says he’s being victimized by the feds simply because he listens to rap music and still hangs out with friends from the block.
He maintains his innocence.
Not buying his story, the federal government and Department of Justice indicted him last week.
A former New York City High School Dean has been charged with murder by federal authorities, alleging he was the leader of a violent drug-dealing gang in the Bronx.
According to Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Israel Garcia, who goes by the name of “Shorty Rock” is a former New York City High School Dean. He’s also the former leader of the Get Money Gunnaz sect of the Young Gunnaz city street gang.
Garcia was charged with murder in aid of racketeering and several other related charges.
The feds allege Garcia played a role in the murder of Alfonso “Joey” McClinton on October 11, 2010. He had several prior drug-related charges pending for his gang involvement.
“As a former high school dean, Israel Garcia was trusted with guiding children towards a bright future, but we allege that Garcia himself was participating in the drug trafficking activity that a high school dean should be protecting his students from,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. “In addition, as alleged, the defendant shot and murdered Alfonso McClinton as part of the defendant’s gang membership and drug dealing. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to weed out violent gang activity from every corner of our community.”
NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said, “The NYPD and our law enforcement partners ceaselessly pursue all violent criminals who terrorize our neighborhoods. True to form, our officers were relentless in investigating this murder – despite it occurring more than a decade ago – to ensure that all of those allegedly involved are held responsible.”
During the past decade, Garcia led the GMG YGz organization, which controlled the sale of narcotics near East 184th Street and Morris Avenue in the Bronx. In addition to carrying firearms, GMG YGz members engaged in back-and-forth shootings with rival crews that were neighboring to them. A result of this violence included the murder of Alfonso “Joey” McClinton (“McClinton”) in 2010. The State of New York arrested and prosecuted GMG YGz member Joseph (“Juice”) Johnson for the murder. The ballistics, video evidence, and eyewitness testimony, however, indicate a second shooter was involved. The Indictment charges Garcia with being the second shooter.
Garcia maintains his innocence, saying he was being set up by the federal government simply because of his affiliation to gangs during his youth and for just continuing to be friends with those same former neighborhood gang members.
Garcia says the government is framing him simply because he is a fan of rap music.