By Forum Staff
Romeo Gonzalez on Tuesday was the 53rd and final defendant to be convicted in the prosecution of members and associates of the Bully Gang, a violent street organization based in Bedford-Stuyvesant that had committed shootings in Queens and bribed Rikers Island correction officers to smuugle drugs into the jail, according to federal prosecutors.
Gonzalez pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiracy to possess cocaine and heroin with intent to distribute for his participation in the gang’s Maine drug trafficking conspiracy.
With Gonzalez’s conviction, all of the defendants charged in the case—across a series of indictments and criminal informations—have been found guilty of their criminal conduct. Forty-eight defendants, including Gonzalez, pleaded guilty, and five defendants were convicted in two separate trials. The defendants were convicted of crimes including racketeering, murder, murder conspiracy, assault, gun trafficking, robbery, arson, extortion, using a gun during a crime of violence, drug trafficking, money laundering, and bribery.
According to court documents and the two trials in this case, the Bully Gang ran several complex and long-running illegal drug-trafficking schemes. These schemes included a multistate drug and money-laundering conspiracy involving dozens of stash houses located in Maine, and a conspiracy to smuggle drugs into Rikers Island jail facilities, including by bribing prison guards. The illicit money generated from these schemes was used to benefit the gang by enriching its members and funding its operations to commit more crimes. To advance the gang’s operations and reputation, and to retaliate against rivals, members and associates of the gang also committed numerous acts of violence, including shootings, arson, and murder, and purchased illegal firearms to protect the organization and its members.
Since 2020, 53 defendants have been charged with a variety of crimes in connection with this investigation and, with Tuesday’s guilty plea by Gonzalez, all have been convicted.
One gang member was convicted of conspiring to murder Mike Hawley in Queens on April 15, 2020 to prevent him from informing authorities about the murder of Paul Hoilett in Brooklyn four days earlier. Two others were convicted of conspiring to murder Christopher King and assaulting King. They stalked King and ultimately shot him and an innocent bystander outside of a restaurant in Queens in October 2017.
Eleven defendants were convicted in connection with the gang’s scheme to smuggle drugs into Rikers Island. From 2019 to 2021, members and associates of the Bully Gang arranged for papers and comic books soaked in synthetic cannabinoids, also known as “K2,” to be delivered to Rikers Island. Once inmates received the K2-soaked papers, they sold smaller quantities to other inmates at a substantial profit. Some of the drug-soaked papers were mailed to inmates and some were smuggled inside the jail through visitors. Two gang members were also convicted of bribing prison guards to smuggle drugs into Rikers Island.
Gonzalez, who was charged in 2020, was a fugitive for nearly five years before he was apprehended in June 2025. With the government’s consent, two defendants are participating in the Special Options Services program for juvenile and young adult offenders.
When sentenced, the defendants convicted of violent crimes face mandatory minimum prison terms ranging from five years to 55 years with a maximum of life imprisonment.
