Matthew Brown, of Delaware, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to his role in a shooting outside the Garden bar in Mount Vernon in 2016 and the subsequent conspiracy to kill a witness involved in the case.
Specifically, Brown pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, and conspiracy, all felonies.
Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino, Jr., said that at approximately 1:45 a.m. on Dec. 10, 2016, outside the South 5th Avenue bar, G-Shine Bloods gang leader Jason Garcia ordered Brown to shoot a person who owed Garcia money for marijuana.
Scarpino noted that Garcia is the highest-ranking member of the Westchester set of the Bloods Gang. He was convicted of the shooting on Jan. 31 and is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday, March 17.
Brown’s victim was shot in the chest and neck, and another innocent bystander was struck in the head with a bullet. Both survived, “but face lifelong medical difficulties,” Scarpino said.
Brown and three others were charged with attempted murder and conspiring to kill an eyewitness to that shooting while being held in County jail. For that, Garcia and the other co-defendants are charged with attempted murder. Those cases are pending.
“Once again, communities in Westchester can feel safer for the good work and collaboration of our prosecutors and investigators with Mount Vernon Police and the county Department of Correction,” Scarpino said. "I commend all of them for today’s guilty plea by a gunman and gang conspirator Matthew Brown and for keeping our witnesses safe.
"Our concentration on fighting the most violent criminals and the gangs, which plague some of our cities, continues to show success. We will not stop.”
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