Defendant: James Bryant (DOB 09/07/78)
Nov. 13, 2018 -- Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. announced that Yonkers gang member James “VVS” Bryant pleaded guilty Friday (11/9) to one count of Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a class B felony. Westchester County Court Judge Anne Minihan accepted the plea. Bryant was remanded into custody and is scheduled for sentencing Feb. 5, 2019, to five to 10 years in state prison.
Background
Bryant was charged following a gang sweep in the Nodine Hill section of Yonkers at the beginning of May where 12 members of the violent street gang known as the Blood Stones Army (BSA or Blood Stones) were charged in a multicount indictment. The investigation leading to the arrest was a collaboration between the Yonkers Police Gang Unit and the District Attorney’s Office Investigations Division Gang, Firearms and Narcotics Bureau.
Bryant was the leader of the Blood Stones Gang, who recruited others into his Bloods set. As the leader, he held gang meetings, required members to pay dues and gave out orders to commit violence. He also dished out punishment to other members of the gang if they failed to follow orders. Bryant pleaded guilty to conspiring with other Blood Stones members to assert control over the Nodine Hill area of Yonkers by means of violence, including, but not limited to, shootings, assaults and firearms possession. He along with other members and associates were parties to a conspiratorial agreement to kill rivals.
Nine of the 12 named in the same indictment have pleaded guilty to conspiracy and other charges.
The case was prosecuted by District Attorney’s Office Investigations Division Gang, Firearms and Narcotics Bureau.
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In compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 3.6, you are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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