Folk Nation Gang Member Pleads Guilty to 2008 Murder of Anthony Thomas
New York, NY - April 4, 2014 - Earlier today, Geraldo Elainor, a member of the violent Brooklyn street gang the Six Tre Outlaw Gangsta Disciples Folk Nation, also known as the “Folk Nation,” pleaded guilty to racketeering, including the 2008 murder of Anthony Thomas as a predicate racketeering act, and discharge of a firearm in connection with the racketeering offense. Today’s plea took place before United States District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis. If the court accepts the defendant’s guilty plea, the defendant will be sentenced to 25 years in prison.
The plea was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
“In this senseless murder, the defendant brazenly took the life of Anthony Thomas, who unwittingly made the fatal mistake of exercising in a playground controlled by Folk Nation members,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “Acting on the gang’s mandate to kill those they believed to be rival gang members, the defendant chased the victim out of the Ebbets Field playground without provocation or justification and killed him. We hope the victim’s family can take some measure of solace in knowing that the individual responsible for their son’s murder has been brought to justice.” Ms. Lynch thanked the FBI and the New York City Police Department for their joint investigation leading up to this case.
Throughout most of its existence, the Six Tre Folk Nation was the dominant gang in the Ebbets Field Houses in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn and took threatening and violent actions to deter residents of those projects from associating with rival gangs. On August 9, 2008, Anthony Thomas was exercising in a neighborhood playground when the defendant
Geraldo Elainor, believing Thomas was a rival gang member, approached and began firing at him. Elainor chased Thomas as he ran away and continued shooting at him, hitting him once in the chest. Thomas eventually reached the parking lot of a nearby McDonalds, where he collapsed and died of his wound.
Elainor is one of nine defendants charged by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York for crimes they committed as members of the Folk Nation. His co-defendant, Devon Rodney, was sentenced last month to 20 years’ imprisonment for his role in directing the gang’s violent activities.
The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Berit Berger, Zainab Ahmad, and Kristin Mace.
Defendant:
Geraldo Elainor
Brooklyn, New York
Age: 24