Rosalie “Shorty” Garcia led the Hoe Avenue Crew, a Bronx drug ring that sold heroin on the corner of Hoe Avenue and Bruckner Boulevard from 1991 through 2002. In December 2005, a Manhattan federal jury convicted Garcia, her son Manuel Roman, and the crew’s enforcer Ricardo “Psycho” Silva of running the operation and murdering four rival drug dealers.1NY Daily News. Mom, Son Guilty of 4 Slays
The Hoe Avenue Crew
The crew took its name from its base of operations in the South Bronx. For more than a decade it sold $10 bags of heroin stamped “Fort Apache,” a nod to the longtime nickname for the nearby 41st Precinct station house. Addicts came to the corner daily, and prosecutors said the operation brought in roughly $70,000 per week.1NY Daily News. Mom, Son Guilty of 4 Slays
Garcia ran the business with Roman. A “battalion of pitchers” moved the product on the street, and profits were laundered through legitimate businesses that included a dry-cleaning store and a pool hall. Silva served as the crew’s hitman, carrying out violence to defend territory and eliminate rivals.
The Four Murders
Garcia, Roman, and Silva were convicted of killing four rival dealers over the life of the crew. Court records from the appeal lay out two of those killings in detail.
In February 1994, Roman offered $10,000 for the killing of rival gang members. A cooperating witness named Serrano testified that Roman provided the guns and later paid $5,000 to the shooters who carried out the double murder of two men identified in the record as Causcut and Quinones.2CaseMine. United States v. Garcia
In 1997, the crew killed Richard “Oreo” Rodriguez. Trial testimony described Garcia becoming “hysterical” after Rodriguez allegedly stole drugs from one of her workers and threatened to kill her. A government cooperator said Garcia screamed to Roman that they had to kill Rodriguez, then retrieved a bag containing two guns and handed them to Roman and an associate named Velez. Witnesses also testified that in the weeks before the killing, Garcia told her workers to call her whenever Rodriguez appeared on the block, and Roman would say he was going “to take care of it” and leave armed.2CaseMine. United States v. Garcia
Federal Charges and Verdict
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York charged the three with racketeering under RICO, violent crimes in aid of racketeering, drug conspiracy, and continuing criminal enterprise.2CaseMine. United States v. Garcia After a month-long trial, the jury returned guilty verdicts in December 2005. Several other crew members had already pleaded guilty to murder charges and testified against Garcia and Roman in exchange for the possibility of reduced sentences.1NY Daily News. Mom, Son Guilty of 4 Slays
Garcia was 53 at the time of her conviction. Sentencing was scheduled for April 28, 2006, and the defendants faced a maximum of life in prison.
The Appeal
Garcia, Roman, and Silva took their convictions to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Garcia challenged her conviction on the 1997 Rodriguez killing, arguing the evidence did not prove she had agreed Rodriguez would be killed. The court held that a rational juror could have found her guilty on the testimony at trial. Roman argued the evidence was insufficient to tie him to the 1994 double murder, and the court pointed to testimony about the bounty he offered and the payments he made to the shooters. On May 29, 2008, the Second Circuit affirmed the judgment against all three defendants.2CaseMine. United States v. Garcia