Three members of a robbery gang called the Cartier crew that engaged in shootouts in broad daylight were convicted Thursday of armed robbery and drug trafficking charges in federal district court, authorities said.
Jose Reyes, 39, Albert Espinal, 33, and Johann Brito, 32, all of Lawrenceville, were convicted on the two offenses and for using a firearm in connection with those offenses, according to U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.
She said the Cartier crew engaged in at least two shootouts in broad daylight -- one at a busy intersection in Lawrenceville, and another in a quiet subdivision in Duluth.
"The defendants and their robbery crew shot, stabbed, tortured, kidnapped and restrained their victims, whom they suspected" to be drug dealers, Yates said in a news release. She said the crew committed robberies in Georgia, New York and North Carolina.
“These defendants not only targeted drug dealers, in at least two instances they mistakenly stabbed and tortured innocent victims. And their willingness to break into homes and engage in high-speed chases with police and public shootouts endangered the lives of all our residents,” Yates said.
According to Yates and other information presented in court, members of the group came to Georgia in 2008 and 2009 from New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island to commit robberies.
She said all three defendants and other members of the group were either born in the Dominican Republic or have close ties to that nation.
Once in Georgia, Reyes, Espinal and Brito committed numerous armed robberies, authorities said.
On the morning of May 11, 2009, Espinal and Brito and other members of the group kicked down the door of a house used for conducting drug deals in a subdivision in Duluth.
Once inside, they tied up the home's caretaker and tied up and shot three other drug customers who delivered cocaine to the house. After learning that a cocaine transaction was scheduled to take place at the house, the defendants planned to rob the drug customers.
At about 10 a.m., the three men and others confronted two drug customers outside of the house. Neighbors reported hearing up to 20 gun shots, and one of the drug customers later died from a gunshot wound, authorities said.
On April 7, 2009, Espinal and Brito and two others broke into another drug house in Lawrenceville, and tied up and tortured a victim by cutting off part of his ear, pouring hot sauce in his eyes, dunking his head in a bathtub and pistol-whipping him in an attempt to learn the location of secreted drugs, authorities said.
They then tried to ransom the victim in exchange for 20 kilograms of cocaine, authorities said.
The exchange never happened, however, because the robbers and drug dealers got into a shootout that morning at Oakland Road and Cruse Road in Lawrenceville, authorities said. One of the robbers was killed in the gun battle.
Two other defendants are fugitives: Roberto Rosario, known as Mello, and Jean Carlos Ramos, known as Gorillon, authorities said.
Each of the three convicted men could receive a maximum sentence of life in prison and a fine of up to $10 million. A sentencing date has yet to be scheduled.
About the Author
