High-Ranking Cypress Gangsta Crips Member Convicted of Murder

Jason Soto, also known as "Twin," a leader of the Cypress Gangsta Crips (CGC), a subgroup of the Eight Trey Crips based in the Cypress Hills Houses of East New York, was convicted today by a federal jury in Brooklyn of all three counts of a superseding indictment charging him with murder in-aid-of racketeering, causing the death of CGC leader Shakim Rivera through the use of a firearm on February 22, 2015, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine in late 2024. The verdict followed a two-week trial before United States District Judge Ramón E. Reyes. When sentenced, Soto faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.

Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, James C. Barnacle, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Jessica S. Tisch, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the verdict.

"Today's verdict sends a message not only to the residents of the Cypress Hills Houses who were terrorized by Soto and his Crips gang, but to all communities, that law enforcement will hold these criminal enterprises accountable for their violent crimes, especially cold-blooded murder as in this case, no matter how long it takes," stated United States Attorney Nocella. "It is a priority of the Administration and our Office to eradicate local and transnational gangs that operate with no regard for human life and flagrantly violate the law."

"Soto's retaliatory murder of Shakim Rivera shook the Cypress Hills Houses and the surrounding community. By leveraging federal statutes-including murder in aid of racketeering, causing death with a firearm, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine-the FBI and our partners were able to ensure that Soto will face a lifetime behind bars. This approach not only prevents further violence but also sends a clear message to gang members: the FBI/NYPD Metro Safe Streets Task Force will continue to identify and dismantle violent offenders before they can inflict further harm. Justice will find you," stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Barnacle.

"As the leader of a violent gang, Jason Soto orchestrated the execution of one of his members in cold blood," stated NYPD Commissioner Tisch. "Today's conviction is yet another example of the NYPD's commitment to getting criminals off our streets and making our communities safer. I thank our investigators, partners at the FBI, and the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York for the critical work in bringing this murderer to justice."

As proved at trial, Soto was a member of the CGC, which operated in the Cypress Hills Houses and elsewhere. CGC members committed acts of violence to promote the gang, enforce the rules of the gang and keep rivals in fear of CGC, and earned money for the gang through robbery, fraud, and firearms and narcotics trafficking.

On February 19, 2015, CGC member Demetrius Graham, also known as "Duke," was shot and killed while asleep in his girlfriend's bed in Brooklyn, New York. The murder was ordered by Rivera, without the gang's authorization, because Rivera had perceived that Graham was disloyal. Graham's murder splintered the gang, causing its members to side with either Rivera or other members of the gang who were still loyal to Graham. Soto believed that Rivera was responsible for Graham's killing and plotted to kill him in retaliation for Rivera's unsanctioned murder of Graham. On the evening of February 22, 2015, Soto lured Rivera out of an apartment building in Cypress Hills and drove him to a residential street in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn where Soto and another CGC associate fatally shot Rivera. Between 2016 and 2017, while Soto was incarcerated, he wrote a manuscript describing his motive for killing Rivera, his membership in the Crips, and the necessity of retaliation for a "grievous act committed against [a] comrade."

This case is the result of a decade long-term investigation initiated by the FBI, the NYPD, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York in response to gang-related violence in and around Cypress Hills Houses. The investigation has resulted in charges against over 20 defendants for drug trafficking, illegal weapons possession, robbery, and murder.

The government's case is being handled by the Office's Organized Crime and Gangs Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Emily J. Dean, Andy Palacio, and Raffaela S. Belizaire are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Daniza Tazabekova, Intelligence Specialist Ashley Hinkson and Investigative Analyst Eungee Hwang from Office's Criminal Investigations Unit.

The Defendant:

JASON SOTO
Age: 37
Brooklyn, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 24-CR-511 (S-1) (RER)