NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Manhattan federal grand jury indicted a 32-year-old former Bronx high school dean for a 2010 gang killing, the DOJ announced Thursday.
Israel Garcia, 32, was the dean of the New Visions Charter High School for the Humanities II in Morrisania, but prosecutors accuse him of leading a double life as the leader of the Get Money Gunnaz set of the Young Gunnaz gang.
Garcia was allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of Alfonso McClinton on Oct. 11, 2010.
Joseph Johnson was arrested for the shooting, but prosecutors claim ballistics, video evidence and eyewitness testimony prove Garcia was also involved.
He had worked for six years as a dean when he was accused of leading the gang, according to a report from the Daily Beast.
Family members didn’t deny he was involved in a gang as a youth, but they told the outlet he had left that life behind by the time he started working in education.
His lawyers maintain the case against him is thin.
“As a leader of a criminal organization, two social media postings, one conversation, feels to me like he’s either a very absent leader, or maybe that is not the decision-making point that they think it is,” said his attorney at a bail hearing.
“As a former high school dean, Israel Garcia was trusted with guiding children towards a bright future, but we allege that Garcia himself was participating in the drug trafficking activity that a high school dean should be protecting his students from,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
The grand jury indicted Garcia for murder in aid of racketeering — a charge that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison.
He is also facing charges for narcotics conspiracy, weapons offenses and related crimes.
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