BROOKLYN, N.Y. – A member of the Brooklyn-based Hyena Crips street gang has pleaded guilty to racketeering charges, including a drive-by murder committed as part of a violent campaign to target rivals, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, Richler Morette, known as “Breezy,” admitted in federal court to participating in the September 2020 murder of Roodson Polynice and to conspiring to kill rival gang members. Prosecutors said Morette, 30, faces up to life in prison when sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ann M. Donnelly.
Morette is the eighth Hyena Crips member to plead guilty under a sweeping federal indictment that charged the gang with a decade-long pattern of violent racketeering activity, including murders, robberies, fraud, and unemployment insurance schemes.
U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said the prosecution marks the dismantling of a gang that “terrorized our communities for too long.” He added, “These Hyena Crips gang members killed innocent people, robbed local businesses, and stole the identities of hard-working individuals. It is my sincere hope that these guilty pleas represent justice and some measure of closure for the victims and their loved ones.”
Prosecutors detailed that the Hyena Crips, based in Flatbush, Brooklyn, financed their operations through robberies and fraud while enforcing control through intimidation and gun violence.
According to court filings, Morette was involved in the September 2, 2020 murder of Roodson Polynice, which was ordered as retaliation for the shooting of two Hyena Crips leaders. During the drive-by attack, Polynice was killed while sitting in his car. Investigators said Morette later responded to Facebook group messages about the killing with laughing-face emojis and the comment, “Don’t care who got hit,” followed by “Pick a side or get killed with them. Hyena lifestyle or no life.”
The indictment also linked gang members to two other homicides — the 2012 stabbing of Leandre Mallinckrodt, who was mistakenly believed to be a rival gang member, and the 2019 shooting death of 15-year-old Samuel Joseph, killed in retaliation for a street altercation.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel said the plea “reflects the real change that HSI New York and our partners are endeavoring to make within New York City communities,” noting that eight Hyena Crips members have now pleaded guilty.
Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito of the U.S. Department of Labor said the investigation also exposed how the gang used stolen identities to defraud unemployment programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The federal probe was led by Homeland Security Investigations’ Violent Gang Task Force, with assistance from the NYPD and the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General.
Eight members of the Hyena Crips have now pleaded guilty in a decade-long racketeering case involving murders, fraud, and organized violence in Brooklyn.
