Overview

• Jaquell Blackwell entered a guilty plea in Brooklyn federal court on August 20, following Abdoul Azika’s July 9 plea before Judge Allyne R. Ross.
• Court filings and plea statements identify both men as members of the Blood Hounds Brims’ Bronx-based “5zzly” crew linked to armed carjackings and robberies across New York City and Long Island.
• Both admitted a March 19, 2023 Garden City carjacking in which a driver was threatened at knife- and gunpoint before his vehicle was taken.
• Blackwell also admitted a June 7, 2023 carjacking in Elmont, and Azika admitted two June 5, 2022 carjackings in South Farmingdale and Massapequa.
• U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. and FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia announced the pleas, citing an interagency effort that included Nassau County police and the FBI’s Operation Summer Heat, and EDNY prosecutors Rebecca M. Schuman and Kamil R. Ammari are handling the case.