Defendant: Jason Garcia (DOB 3/21/83) aka "Mecca-J"

Jan. 31, 2020 -- Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. announced the leader of the G-Shine Bloods gang, Jason Garcia of Mount Vernon, was found guilty on all counts following a jury trial before Westchester County Court Judge Anne Minihan for the Mount Vernon Garden Bar shooting in 2016.

Specifically, he was found guilty of the following:

  • Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, a class B Felony
  • Two counts of Assault in the First Degree, class B felonies
  • Two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, class C felonies

Sentencing is scheduled for March 17, 2020. He faces up to 40 years in state prison.

The case was prosecuted by the Investigations Division Gang, Firearms and Narcotics Bureau.

Background
According to the evidence presented at trial, on Dec. 10, 2016 at 1:44 a.m. outside of the Garden Bar, 766 South 5th Avenue, Mount Vernon, Jason Garcia a/k/a "Mecca-J" ordered Matthew Brown, a Bloods gang associate, to shoot an individual who owed Garcia money for marijuana. Garcia is the highest-ranking member of the Westchester set of the Bloods Gang.

The target was shot in the chest and neck, and an innocent bystander was shot in the head. Both survived, but face life-long medical difficulties as a result of the shooting. The shooting was captured on surveillance video.

Garcia also faces trial for attempted murder and conspiring to kill an eyewitness to the bar shooting while being held in County jail pending this trial. For that, he and three co-defendants are charged with Attempted Murder in the First Degree, a class A violent felony, and others charges. That case is pending.(Read more on that case.)

Investigations into these cases are a collaboration by the Mount Vernon Police Department and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office Criminal Investigators.

“This is a major blow to gang activity in Mount Vernon and Westchester as a whole,” said DA Scarpino. “Our focus on the most violent criminals in our communities continues to force down the crime rate and incidents of violence. Mount Vernon is a safer city as a result of this conviction. We commend our Criminal Investigators, prosecutors in the Gangs, Firearms and Narcotics Bureau and Mount Vernon Police for bringing this dangerous criminal to justice.”

 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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