Ariela Mejia-Polanco
The Prolific Street Gang Is Also Charged With Various Assaults and Armed Robberies, Including the Gunpoint Robbery of an International Recording Artist
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Assistant Director in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), James C. Barnacle, Jr., Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), Jessica S. Tisch, Westchester County District Attorney, Susan Cacace, Bronx District Attorney, Darcel D. Clarke, Bergen County Prosecutor, Mark Musella, and Commissioner of the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, Terrance Raynor, announced today the unsealing of a 15-count Indictment charging 11 defendants (the “BB7 Defendants”) with racketeering conspiracy in connection with their membership in or association with the “Bad Boys” (“BB7”) set of the Trinitarios street gang, as well as with a spate of other BB7-related violent crimes committed between September 2023 and September 2025—including five murders and multiple assaults and armed robberies. A 12th defendant, JAROL LEDESMA, a/k/a “El Nueve,” a/k/a “Lil Nueve,” was charged with Hobbs Act robbery and interstate stalking offenses in connection with the gunpoint robbery of a prominent international music artist, which was allegedly carried out with members and associates of BB7 in June 2025. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge TK.
“As alleged, the BB7 Trinitarios, operating from their historical headquarters in the Bronx, terrorized communities in New York City, Westchester, and northern New Jersey, night after night,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “This indictment reflects a broad-based effort by SDNY and our dedicated federal and local partners to stop the violence and bring relief to affected communities across the tri-state area. Collectively, we are committed to holding gang leaders and their deadly associates accountable for their truly brutal conduct. This is what our New York families want us to do—and we applaud the FBI, the Westchester County Police Department, the New York City Police Department, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for their efforts to bring justice and safety to the streets of the New York metropolitan area.”
“Members of the BB7 criminal organization allegedly carried out a campaign of violence that left victims and families suffering unimaginable loss,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. “Today’s outcome sends a clear message: this type of violence will never be tolerated in New York. The FBI New York Safe Streets Task Force remains steadfast in our mission to dismantle violent gangs, protect the American public, and deliver justice for the victims.”
“These defendants, members of the Trinitarios gang, took part in a wave of violence and crime that claimed multiple lives and terrorized neighborhoods,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “This takedown is the result of the NYPD’s precision policing strategy and our relentless work targeting dangerous gangs and guns. I thank our NYPD investigators and law enforcement partners for their commitment to dismantling these groups and making our streets safer.”
“Dismantling this network of organized violent criminals would hardly have been possible without one of the most extensive interagency partnerships in Westchester’s recent history,” said Westchester County DA Susan Cacace. “I am proud of the significant role my office played in identifying and apprehending the individuals who murdered Ariela Mejia-Polanco last year in an act of unconscionable violence. Either the highways of this county belong to the criminal gangs, or they belong to the public; through these charges, we are reaffirming that the rights of the law-abiding public will always come first. We can never allow our streets to be overtaken by organized criminal activity, and I thank all of our interagency partners for working in tandem to ensure this remains a durable promise.”
“I commend the outstanding work of the members of my office, the Southern District of New York, the New York City Police Department, and the FBI,” said Bronx DA Darcel D. Clarke. “Their close collaboration resulted in the federal indictment of these defendants and demonstrates the power of coordinated law enforcement. By holding violent offenders accountable, we are helping make our neighborhoods safer. To the families of the three men who lost their lives in these Bronx cases—Frankelis Tavarez, Adam Waldropt, and Gabriel Alvarez—I hope you find some measure of comfort in knowing that local and federal law enforcement are working together tirelessly to seek justice for your loved ones. My office remains committed to pursuing justice with integrity while protecting our communities from violent crime.”
“Organized street gangs are not just a local problem,” said Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella. “They are a regional public safety threat. When criminals are willing to cross state lines to destroy lives, our response must be equally coordinated, equally determined, and completely relentless. I am proud to say that in this case, cooperation among agencies and a dogged commitment by all involved brought us to this moment.”
“The scope of work that was done by police and prosecutors to bring down this criminal enterprise is nothing short of outstanding,” said Westchester County Department of Public Safety Commissioner Terrance Raynor. “I would like to commend the detectives from our General Investigations Unit, Forensic Investigations Unit, and our Real Time Crime Center—and all of our law enforcement partners—for their exemplary work. Inter-agency collaboration and technology were the keys to a successful conclusion in this particular homicide investigation.”
As alleged in the Indictment and other documents filed in federal court:(1)
From at least in or about September 2023 through September 2025, the BB7 Defendants, and others known and unknown, were members and associates of BB7, a “set” of the Trinitarios street and prison gang. Members and associates of BB7 engaged in, among other activities, acts involving murder, assault, robbery, carjacking, narcotics trafficking, and wire fraud in and around the greater metropolitan area of New York City, including the Bronx and northern New Jersey. In addition to racketeering conspiracy, the Indictment charges all of the BB7 Defendants with additional offenses, including:
On or about March 30, 2024, in the Bronx, SOSA and MANON murdered Frankelis Tavarez.
From on or about June 27, 2025, through on or about June 28, 2025, several of the defendants, including MARTHA, MERCEDES MARTE, PERALTA GOMEZ, PEÑA, and LEDESMA, used, among other means, a GPS tracker to stalk several victims by car from Massachusetts through Westchester County, the Bronx, and Manhattan to a hotel parking lot in the vicinity of Fort Lee, New Jersey. There, while brandishing multiple firearms, they robbed a prominent international music artist in the middle of a U.S. tour of, among other things, high-value jewelry.
On or about July 28, 2025, PLACENCIA, MERCEDES MARTE, PERALTA GOMEZ, CARBUCCIA, and PEÑA organized, planned, and carried out a retaliatory shooting targeting rival gang members in the vicinity of Paterson, New Jersey.
On or about July 28, 2025, at a car meet in the Bronx, MARTINEZ murdered Gabriel Alvarez and Adam Waldropt.
On or about August 2, 2025, in the vicinity of Newark, New Jersey, SOSA, PLACENCIA, MERCEDES MARTE, PERALTA GOMEZ, ABAD RIVAS, CARBUCCIA, and PEÑA murdered Alvis Perez Liriano.
On or about August 16, 2025, in the Bronx, MARTHA, MERCEDES MARTE, and CARBUCCIA planned, directed, and conducted an attempted armed robbery, during which CARBUCCIA and other members and associates of BB7 used firearms to shoot and seriously injure two victims.
On or about August 17, 2025, in the vicinity of Mount Vernon, New York, MARTHA, MERCEDES MARTE, PERALTA GOMEZ, ABAD RIVAS, CARBUCCIA, and PORTES GUABA, together with other members and associates of BB7, attempted to commit an armed carjacking of a black Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG SUV driven by Ariela Mejia-Polanco north from upper Manhattan through the Bronx into Westchester, where they shot and killed Mejia-Polanco during a high-speed pursuit on the Cross County Parkway.
The minimum and maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI. He also thanked the NYPD, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, the Paterson Police Department, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carmi Schickler, John Sarlitto, and Christopher Morel are in charge of the prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Ly and Patrick Moroney of the Office’s Violent Organizations and Crime Unit investigated the March 2024 murder of Frankelis Tavarez.
The charges in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
From our story in September 2025:
“Ariela Mejia-Polanco, 33, a social media influencer and nightlife personality-hostess. She had over 550,000 followers on Instagram. Each one of her posts generated $10,000 in income for her, and combined with her nightlife work and other enterprises, made Ariela the Lobster, and ariiella.lalangosta, her screen names, a multi-millionaire.
“She was one of the more popular Dominican-born influencers known for her daring personality, modeling, and dance content. She joined Instagram in 2018, around the same time she became a rising star in hip-hop circles and was a close friend of the rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine.
“According to the social media site True Crime Unravelled, during her friendship or relationship with Tekashi, Mejia-Polanco was kidnapped by the 9 Trey Ganster Blood gang, who was entangled in a violent feud with Tekashi.
“Released on the same day, Ariela later testified in Federal racketeering case against the gang members who kidnapped her. This courageous decision has some wondering if, 7 years later, her shooting was somehow linked to her testimony.”