DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Western District of New York

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, September 9, 2014
William J. Hochul, Jr.
, United States Attorney
Contact: Barbara Burns

Third Superceding Indictment Filed; Defendant Charged With Murder

ROCHESTER, N.Y.--U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury in Rochester has returned a 10-count, third superseding indictment, which includes a charge for murder in relation to and in furtherance of a Rochester area drug distribution conspiracy.

Tyshawn Simmons, aka ATy,@ 31, is charged with murdering Ryan Adams, 26, on the evening of October 31, 2012, as the leader of a drug trafficking conspiracy. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison, a maximum of life, and a fine of $2,000,000. The defendant is also charged with discharging a firearm in connection with the murder and in furtherance of the drug trafficking conspiracy which is punishable by a mandatory minimum 10 years in prison, a maximum of life, and a $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Everardo A. Rodriguez, who is handling the case, stated that the murder charge against Simmons stems from the continuation of a long-term investigation into the drug trafficking activities in the Rochester area of Simmons and the other charged defendants. According to the superseding indictment, the defendant shot Adams six times while he was sitting in the driver’s seat of his car on Lincoln Street in Rochester, on Halloween night 2012. Adams managed to get out of the car and walked approximately 400 feet looking for help before collapsing. 

The third superseding indictment also charges Simmons and seven other defendants with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, 280 or more grams of cocaine base, five kilograms or more of cocaine, heroin and marijuana. Also charged are: Marquis McMillian, aka ADap,@ 22; Melvin Hill, aka APumpkin;@ Franklin Brock Jr.; aka ALittle Frank,@ 20; Franklin Brock Sr., 40; Patrick Christner, 29; Tina McDonald, 41; and Ciarra Crane, 24. The drug conspiracy charge carries a mandatory minimum term of 10 years in prison, a maximum of life, a fine of $10,000,000, or both.  

Defendants Simmons, McMillian and Brock Jr. are also charged with attempting to kill a person (John Doe 1) in retaliation for that person=s cooperation in a federal investigation and with unlawfully using a firearm to commit the shooting. These charges carry maximum penalties of 30 years and life in prison, respectively.

Tyshawn Simmons and Marquis McMillian are also charged with attempting to kill a second person (John Doe 2) because that person was a witness to the shooting of John Doe 1, and to prevent John Doe 2 from testifying in connection with the first shooting.  They are also charged with unlawfully using a firearm to commit the shooting of John Doe 2. These charges also carry maximum penalties of 30 years and life in prison, respectively.

Defendants Simmons, McMillian, Brock and McDonald are also charged with unlawfully possessing firearms in furtherance of the drug trafficking conspiracy. The gun charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum of life, a fine of $250,000, or both.

The superseding indictment is the result of an investigation headed by the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli, with assistance from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of James J. Hunt, Acting Special Agent in Charge, New York Field Division.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

 

# # # #

 

New York Field Division