Post by Scumhunter on Jun 3, 2017 3:40:40 GMT -5
(Above: Hector Trochez Photo Credit: nola.com)
From nola.com:
Three-and-a-half years after armored-truck guard Hector Trochez was killed on the job days before Christmas outside a Carrollton Avenue bank, no one has been charged in his murder. A man who has been implicated the 2013 murder of Trochez, however, is in federal custody for unrelated gun and heroin trafficking charges and is accused of being part of a "dangerous criminal crew," federal authorities say.
A federal prosecutor wrote in a court filing last week that LilBear George, one of four defendants accused of taking part in a heroin trafficking conspiracy, was linked to the 2013 Trochez murder case by DNA found on a screwdriver left in the stolen get-away vehicle. George, who federal court records say is also known as Allen Santee, and his three codefendants were arrested last February after Louisiana State Police troopers say they observed them participate in a drug deal inside a parked car.
The circumstances of Trochez's unsolved case are similar to Wednesday's (May 31) shooting death of a Loomis employee, who the Orleans Parish Coroner's Office has not yet identified. New Orleans police say the employee was killed about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday during a possible robbery or attempted robbery of the armored truck outside the Campus Federal Credit Union on Tulane Avenue near South Galvez Street. Trochez, also a Loomis employee, was fatally shot before 11 a.m. Dec. 18, 2013, during a robbery of the truck outside a Chase bank.
The FBI has joined NOPD in investigating Wednesday's murder, as the agency did with Trochez's case in 2013, and has planned a 5:30 p.m. Thursday press conference on updates in the most recent case.
'Dangerous criminal crew'
The federal prosecutor handling George's drug trafficking case filed a motion Friday (May 26) declaring his intent to present evidence linking George, 29, and his codefendants to other violent crimes, including the Trochez murder and another New Orleans murder, though none of the defendants face charges in those cases.
One of George's codefendants, Kalique Hardin, was found to be in possession of a gun used in a separate New Orleans murder: the July, 2, 2015, fatal shooting of Travis Williams on North Salcedo Street, records show.
Police said in July Williams was fatally shot while working on a home in the 600 block of North Salcedo about 4 p.m. Investigators found his body underneath a house, NOPD said at the time.
The same gun from the Williams murder, which federal authorities say was shared among the crew as part of their drug trafficking conspiracy, was also used in a September 2015 carjacking. A gun was fired during the carjacking, though no one was struck. The DNA of one of the other codefendants, Sydney Lebanks, was recovered from the carjacked vehicle, the prosecutor's motion says.
The 2013 murder of Trochez, the 2015 murder of Williams and Wednesday's murder of the Loomis employee all occurred in the Mid-City area. The carjacking occurred at Frenchmen and Abundance Streets, in the St. Roch neighborhood.
George, Hardin and the other codefendants were arrested Feb. 8, 2016, on Lundi Gras, after troopers with Louisiana State Police searched a car they were sitting in as it was parked in the French Quarter. The search turned up heroin, other drugs and thousands of dollars in cash, State Police said at the time. A federal grand jury indicted the men later that month.
All four defendants face one count of conspiracy to traffic heroin and one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin. George, Hardin and Lebanks face an additional count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.
"The defendants comprise a dangerous criminal crew, not an unlucky gathering of innocents," McMahon wrote in his argument to present evidence linking the defendants or their weapons to the previous violent crimes. "
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael McMahon's motion notes no one was arrested in the 2015 Williams murder or the carjacking. Neither the NOPD nor the FBI has announced an arrest in Trochez's murder, and representatives for each agency did not immediately respond to questions about the case
How LilBear George and his 'crew' got caught
Federal documents detail the search of the car that led to the arrest of George and his codefendants. Troopers patrolling the French Quarter saw one of George's codefendants, Basin Wells, peeping into cars "suspiciously," then get in the back seat of a Nissan Maxima, the prosecutor's motion says.
The troopers then "witnessed an apparent drug deal," says the filing. The document describes troopers' view of clear, plastic bags in the center console, as well as attempts of car's driver, George, to "hide money."
When Troopers ordered the men to show their hands, George put the car in drive and "started towards the troopers," the prosecutor wrote. When the troopers told him to stop and show his hands, the record shows, George put the car in park, "but continued to fiddle with objects as if he was hiding things."
As the four men got out of the car -- one at a time -- under instructions from the troopers, "the smell of fresh marijuana wafted from inside the vehicle," McMahon wrote. Troopers found a Glock 27, .40-caliber pistol between the driver's seat and front console, "in George's immediate area." Under Hardin's right thigh, they also found a loaded Ruger 9 mm pistol with an extended magazine carrying 24 live rounds.
The filing says troopers seized approximately $10,300 in cash from George, "with which he tried to bribe the troopers to release him."
Inside and on top of the center console, within reach of George and Hardin, the troopers also found 44 grams of heroin in seven clear plastic bags that were stuffed inside a larger plastic bag. They also found 3.5 grams of marijuana and an additional $228 in cash.
Troopers found a gram of heroin in two clastic bags and a loaded Glock with an extended magazine containing 23 live rounds on the floorboard near Lebanks, who was in the backseat with Wells. On the floorboard near Wells, they found 2.5 grams of heroin inside of nine clear plastic bag, which were stuffed inside a larger plastic bag, the filing says. Wells had more than $3,000 in cash on him, prosecutors say.
Anyone with information about Wednesday's fatal shooting or the fatal shootings of Trochez or Williams is asked to call NOPD's Homicide unit at 504-658-5300 or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111. Homicide Detective Theo Kent is leading the investigation into Wednesday's homicide of the Loomis emoloyee.
Thoughts? Also, here are some photos since I feel they may be helpful. The first is of Lilbear George after his 2016 arrest:
And also here is a photo of all of Lilbear's 'crew', weapons and cash seized from them:
The above caption from nola.com reads: "Louisiana State Police arrested, from left, Sidney Lebanks, Basin Wells, Lilbear George and Kalique Hardin after a search of a car parked in the French Quarter Monday, Feb. 8, 2016, turned up guns, heroin, other drugs and nearly $14,000 in cash. (Photo courtesy of Louisiana State Police)"
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