HIGH-RANKING CYPRESS GANGSTA CRIPS MEMBER CONVICTED OF MURDER IN BROOKLYN

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — A federal jury has convicted Jason Soto, also known as “Twin,” age 37, of Brooklyn, on all three counts of a superseding indictment charging him with murder in aid of racketeering, causing the death of fellow Cypress Gangsta Crips leader Shakim Rivera through the use of a firearm, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

The verdict was returned October 26, 2026, following a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Ramón E. Reyes in the Eastern District of New York. Soto faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment when sentenced.

Soto was a leader of the Cypress Gangsta Crips, or CGC, a subgroup of the Eight Trey Crips based in the Cypress Hills Houses in East New York. Trial evidence established that CGC members committed violent crimes to promote the gang, enforce its rules, intimidate rivals, and generate money through robbery, fraud, firearms trafficking, and narcotics trafficking.

The murder stemmed from an internal gang dispute that followed the killing of CGC member Demetrius Graham, also known as “Duke,” on February 19, 2015. Graham was shot and killed while asleep in his girlfriend’s bed in Brooklyn. Evidence presented at trial established that Rivera ordered Graham’s killing without authorization from the gang because Rivera believed Graham had been disloyal.

Graham’s death split the gang, with members siding either with Rivera or with those who remained loyal to Graham. Soto believed Rivera was responsible for Graham’s killing and planned to kill him in retaliation.

On the evening of February 22, 2015, Soto lured Rivera from an apartment building in Cypress Hills and drove him to a residential street in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn. Soto and another CGC associate then fatally shot Rivera.

Between 2016 and 2017, while incarcerated, Soto wrote a manuscript describing his motive for killing Rivera, his membership in the Crips, and his view that retaliation was necessary for what he described as a grievous act committed against a fellow gang member. Prosecutors used the writings as evidence during the trial.

The conviction followed a decade-long investigation by the FBI, New York City Police Department, and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York into gang-related violence in and around the Cypress Hills Houses. The broader investigation has resulted in charges against more than 20 defendants for crimes including drug trafficking, illegal weapons possession, robbery, and murder.

Joseph Nocella, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced the verdict with James C. Barnacle, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, and Jessica S. Tisch, Commissioner of the NYPD.

The government’s case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily J. Dean, Andy Palacio, and Raffaela S. Belizaire are prosecuting the case with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Daniza Tazabekova, Intelligence Specialist Ashley Hinkson, and Investigative Analyst Eungee Hwang.

Soto was also convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine in late 2024. He now awaits sentencing before Judge Reyes.

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