A Crips gang member reportedly tattooed the Bank of America logo on his arm after ripping off the financial institution in a check fraud scheme. Federal prosecutors attached a color photograph of Gabriel Patterson with no shirt on and the tattoo showing to sentencing papers to depict his "commitment to crime as a way of life."
“The defendant’s commitment to bank fraud is extreme,” said Assistant Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Allon Lifshitz. The prosecutor added: “Indeed, he has even tattooed the logo of Bank of America —one of his victims— on the inside of his left elbow reflecting the pride he takes in his crimes.”
21-year old Patterson is a member of the Eight Trey Crips, the same crew that was allegedly involved in the shootout at the J'ouvert celebration in Brooklyn September 2015, that claimed the life of Carey Gabay, who was an aide to Gov. Cuomo, according to court papers.
Lifshitz noted that bank fraud, along with drug trafficking is among the main ways street gangs make money. Patterson is one of 23 reputed Crips gang members named in a federal racketeering indictment.
The bank logo—four red and two blue bars —are the only tattoos in color on Patterson's upper body which is covered in ink. The other tattoos include two angels, a cross and the words “Without struggle, there is no progress so for now struggle continues.”
Patterson pled guilty to copying the account and routing numbers of checks, drafting counterfeit checks with the stolen numbers, depositing the checks, then withdrawing cash from the fraudulent account balance. He is the son of a retired NYPD detective. According to court papers, he learned the illegal craft from other Crips members. His defense lawyer Mithell Golub dismissed the government's interpretation of the Bank of America tattoo.
“It is what it is,” Golub told the Daily News on Tuesday. “The government is just saying what they assume it means. He (Patterson) was just an immature kid — I don’t think any great thinking went into it.”
Patterson wrote a letter to Federal Judge William Kuntz apologizing to the “unnamed victims of my crimes.”
“Being incarcerated in a 5-square-foot cell definitely shows me that I don’t want this for my future,” he wrote.
Patterson was sentenced on Monday to 33 months in prison, which is on the high end of the recommended guidelines. Kuntz did not say if the tattoo factored into the sentence.
Source: nydailynews.com
