Seven charged in connection with fentanyl robbery gang activities

SCRANTON, PA — The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has announced that seven individuals have been charged by a federal grand jury in a superseding indictment. The individuals—Amanda Marie Correa, 29; Robert Andrew Barnes, 24; Christine Deann DiCarlo, 50; Shaqare Jaymont Blackwell, 23; Shakur Serafin Brownstein, 27; Dylan Wilson Small, 35; and Samual Jordan, 42—face multiple charges including conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance resulting in death and serious bodily injury, distributing fentanyl resulting in death and serious bodily injury, brandishing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, kidnapping, and aggravated identity theft.

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the group, dubbed the “Fentanyl Robbery Gang (F.R.G.)” by law enforcement, is connected to various New York gangs and engaged in trafficking drugs and firearms. The group reportedly used dating websites to lure individuals interested in hiring prostitutes, with the intention of robbing them of firearms, cash, cellular phones, identification documents, debit and credit cards, drugs, and other valuable items.

The indictment details that members of F.R.G. would offer victims narcotics, often purported to be cocaine but actually laced with fentanyl. If victims refused the drugs, the gang would forcibly or surreptitiously administer fentanyl to incapacitate them and facilitate the theft. In cases where victims were not incapacitated quickly enough, the gang resorted to home-invasion robberies, using threats, beatings, and aggravated assault to steal items at gunpoint.

The superseding indictment alleges that four individuals have died from fentanyl overdoses linked to the gang’s activities, with three deaths occurring in Berks and Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and one in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. All seven individuals named in the indictment are currently in custody. The investigation remains ongoing, with law enforcement seeking to identify and apprehend additional members and associates of F.R.G. and locate more victims. The FBI urges anyone with information about F.R.G. to contact them at 570-344-2404.

The charges result from a joint investigation by the FBI, Pennsylvania State Police, the United States Marshals Service – Scranton office, the District Attorney Offices of Pike, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wyoming, and Berks Counties in Pennsylvania, the Portsmouth, New Hampshire Police Department, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, and various state and local law enforcement agencies. Assistant United States Attorneys Todd K. Hinkley and Luisa Honora Berti are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that collaborates with law enforcement and communities to reduce violent crime and gun violence, aiming to create safer neighborhoods. Launched on May 26, 2021, the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategy under PSN focuses on fostering trust and legitimacy in communities, supporting violence prevention organizations, setting strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring outcomes.

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