LAWFUEL – The Legal Newswire – MICHAEL J. GARCIA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that PEDRO GONZALEZ, a/k/a “Pete,” and his brother DAVID GONZALEZ were found guilty
yesterday of narcotics trafficking and murder, following a threeweek
jury trial before United States District Judge LORETTA A. PRESKA and a jury in Manhattan federal court. PEDRO GONZALEZ, 39, and DAVID GONZALEZ, 33, were each convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine, and marijuana, and PEDRO GONZALEZ was also convicted of distributing heroin. Additionally, DAVID GONZALEZ was convicted of participating in the murder of EUGENE SOTO, who was shot to death on September 14, 1996, on Valentine Avenue in the Bronx, in connection with PEDRO GONZALEZ’s drug business. Each count of conviction carries a
maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The defendants, whose
drug profits were invested in real estate and other assets, also
face asset forfeiture penalties. According to the evidence at
trial:
PEDRO GONZALEZ at first operated a street-level
narcotics organization which sold crack cocaine and marijuana at
East 196th Street and Creston Avenue in the Bronx, New York.
During the course of the conspiracy, from 1991 through 2003,
PEDRO GONZALEZ built up the drug business to the point where he
and co-conspirators were selling kilogram-quantities of heroin
and cocaine throughout the New York City area. Additionally,
PEDRO GONZALEZ possessed several weapons, including semiautomatic
guns, silencers, and a hand grenade.
On September 14, 1996, following an altercation the
previous day with PEDRO GONZALEZ, SOTO encountered DAVID GONZALEZ
on a Bronx street, whereupon DAVID GONZALEZ returned to a stash
apartment for the brothers’ drug organization and retrieved a
firearm. DAVID GONZALEZ then led a chase of SOTO through the
streets. SOTO was trapped in the vestibule of a building on
Valentine Avenue, then stabbed repeatedly in the head and neck by
an associate of the GONZALEZES (“CC-1”). SOTO was then shot in
the head and killed, using DAVID GONZALEZ’s gun, by another
GONZALEZ associate (“CC-2”). There were no eyewitnesses able to
identify the killers, and the murder went unprosecuted until six
years later. CC-1 and CC-2 both pleaded guilty in Manhattan
federal court for their roles in the murder, and agreed to
cooperate with the Government. DAVID GONZALEZ was then charged.
Mr. GARCIA praised the investigative efforts of the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Drug
Enforcement Administration; and the United States Internal
Revenue Service.
Assistant United States Attorneys HARRY A. CHERNOFF and
STEVE C. LEE are in charge of the prosecution.
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