Juwan Dolson
Tramel Morman
MIDDLETOWN – Two members of the Coke Wave Boys street gang in Middletown
have been indicted by an Orange County grand jury on murder and other
charges in the shooting death of Coree White, Jr., 19, on a Middletown
city street one year ago on August 17, 2017.
(Click
here for a complete list of those charged.)
White was affiliated with the rival group, Guap Gang.
Both groups were involved in selling heroin and cocaine in Middletown.
Mayor Joseph DeStefano said the arrests mark the beginning of the “healing process for the White family.
“As a community, we stand with you,” the mayor said. “We stand with any victim of a violent crime. But, as a community.”
Middletown Police Chief John Ewanciw said the drug investigation began about a year before White was murdered.
Juawan Dolson, 21, also known as La Capone” and “Wanny,”
and Tramel Morman, 23, also known as “Biggs” and “Splash,”
both of Middletown, were charged with murder as members of the Coke Wave
Boys, as well as with selling drugs, illegal possession of weapons, and
committing violent acts against rival gangs including the Guap Gang.
Authorities said White was murder in furtherance of Coke Wave members’ conspiracy to sell narcotics.
White’s mother, Emily Rivera, said she hopes the two suspects are convicted and given the maximum sentence allowed by law. She said no matter what her son was involved in as a teenager, they had no right taking him away from her.
District Attorney David Hoovler termed the investigation “unprecedented” for Orange County in that the case against the Coke Wave Boys was prosecuted in state court and the Guap Group was prosecuted in federal court.
In total, 25 people were charged.
In federal court indictments, six Guap Gang members were charged with narcotics conspiracy and firearms offenses.
Also participating in the investigation and arrests were the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office.
