Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Houston Man Sentenced on Drug Charge Involving LRGP Gang
BUFFALO, N.Y.-Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Earl Brown, Sr., 55, of Houston, Texas, who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and money laundering conspiracy, was sentenced to 135 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney George C. Burgasser, who handled the case, Franklin Richards was a major supplier of cocaine to a drug trafficking organization in Buffalo known as L.R.G.P., a violent street gang named after the East Side streets of Lombard, Rother, Gibson and Playter. Richards obtained multiple kilograms of cocaine on a regular basis from the defendant Earl Brown which was shipped or transported from the Houston area to Buffalo. Richards then distributed cocaine to Dewayne Gray, who was the leader of the L.R.G.P. organization. Gray, in turn, processed much of the cocaine into crack cocaine which was later sold by various L.R.G.P. members. The cocaine was sold at various locations in the Broadway/Fillmore area of Buffalo.
Brown was also involved in money laundering activities. On December 14, 2012, Franklin Richards attempted to send $112,000 in drug proceeds to the defendant but the money was seized at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
Brown was arrested along with seven other defendants; all have been convicted.
The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of: Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Adam S. Cohen; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of James J. Hunt, Special Agent-in-Charge, New York Field Division; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ashan Benedict, New York Field Division; the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda; the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Steven Nigrelli; and the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Police, under the direction of Chief George Gast.
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