D.A. Hynes Announces The Sentencing Of Latin Kings In Borough Park Arson Case

From the office of Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes:

Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced the sentences of Emil Vazquez, 21, Juan Burkette, 30, and Casimiro Reyes, 21, Latin King gang members, who along with other members of the gang, were charged with planning and executing an arson of a Borough Park residence with Molotov cocktails.  Vazquez was convicted of Arson in the First Degree and sentenced on November 15 to 15 years to life in prison.  Burkette was convicted of Arson in the First Degree and sentenced today to 23 years to life in prison.  Reyes was convicted of Conspiracy in the Second Degree and sentenced today to six to 18 years in prison.  They were sentenced by Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Albert Tomei.

On March 1, 2010, the Latin Kings street gang’s “Borough Park Homicide Squad” set fire to the Borough Park residence in an attempt to kill a former gang member.  In July 2010, the three defendants, along with 15 other gang members who were also involved in the planning, were indicted.

The target of the arsons, Juan Kuang, 19, had been “stripped” of his Latin King status, over disagreements with the Borough Park Homicide Squad’s leaders.  After constant harassment by the Latin Kings, Juan Kuang stabbed Latin King member Norman Vado, 21, the brother of the gang’s leader, or “First Crown”, Roger Vado. Juan Kuang is currently serving a five-year prison sentence for the stabbing of Norman Vado.

Roger Vado and the Borough Park Homicide Squad members were charged with setting the fire at Juan Kuang’s residence in retaliation for Norman Vado’s stabbing.

On two separate occasions, the gang members threw Molotov cocktails at two different Borough Park homes, where they believed Kuang was living at the time.  One building, which was a multi-family unit where young children and an elderly woman lived, was completely destroyed.  The other targeted building was an apartment complex, of which the exterior, rear wall was scorched and damaged.  Nobody was injured in either fire.

The case was investigated by the NYPD Gang Division’s Brooklyn South Gang Squad and the FDNY Bureau of Fire Investigation’s Citywide South/Special Investigations Unit.

The case was prosecuted by Anita Channapati, Deputy Bureau Chief, and Leila Rosini, Assistant District Attorney, of the Gang Bureau. Deanna Rodriguez is Chief of the Gang Bureau.