A federal grand jury in Brooklyn has returned a second superseding indictment charging Jalon Lenny Garrett and five other Maryland men in connection with a violent drug-related kidnapping and murder that occurred in Queens, New York, in July 2024, federal prosecutors announced Friday.
Garrett, 20, was arrested in Baltimore earlier in the day and is expected to appear in the Eastern District of New York at a later date. The new indictment charges Garrett, along with previously indicted defendants Marcus Pittman, Delonta Pittman, Jerome Waters, Calvin Israel, and William Barnett, with kidnapping, armed robbery, and the shooting death of a drug dealer known in court filings as John Doe #1.
According to court documents, the defendants are members of a Baltimore-based robbery crew that traveled to New York to target marijuana dealers. On July 25, 2024, they carried out a coordinated plan that involved tying up two victims with zip ties, stealing roughly 30 pounds of marijuana, and ultimately executing John Doe #1 in the back of a U-Haul van as the group fled the scene.
Garrett is specifically accused of robbing and kidnapping the second victim, John Doe #2, at gunpoint. Marcus Pittman, 30, allegedly shot and killed John Doe #1 while he was restrained. Pittman is also charged with being a felon in possession of ammunition.
Violent drug conspiracy spanned state lines and ended in murder
According to the indictment, Waters and Barnett initially posed as buyers at a Queens stash house before drawing weapons on the two victims. They then allowed their co-conspirators into the home to assist with the robbery. Both victims were bound and loaded into separate vehicles—John Doe #1 into a U-Haul and John Doe #2 into a Jeep—while the suspects fled with marijuana and searched for more drugs and money.
First responders later found John Doe #1 deceased, still bound by a zip tie and surrounded by marijuana. After the killing, the group fled New York and returned to Maryland, according to prosecutors.
If convicted, Marcus Pittman, Delonta Pittman, and Jerome Waters face mandatory life imprisonment. Garrett faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison. All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section and is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a national initiative aimed at reducing violent crime through coordinated law enforcement strategies.
A deadly interstate robbery plot has unraveled with six men now facing life behind bars for a brutal kidnapping and execution in Queens.
