An ex-high school dean has been found guilty of many severe offenses, including murder. He is believed to have been the head of a vicious group engaged in illicit drug trade in the Bronx.
The former New Visions Charter High School for the Humanities dean was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2010 shooting death of Alfonso “Joey” McClinton.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York claims that Garcia was previously the leader of the Young Gunnaz’s Get Money Gunnaz faction, abbreviated as “GMG YGz.” McClinton was a member of an opposing street gang, and conflicts between the two groups often escalated into violence over the drug territory.
Reports show McClinton was fatally shot on October 11th, 2010. For his role in the shooting, GMG YGz member Joseph “Juice” Johnson confessed to manslaughter in 2022 and currently has a 17-year sentence. The district attorney’s office, however, stated that there had been two shooters because evidence and eyewitness testimony supported this. Garcia was the second gunman.
According to the DEA’s account, Garcia was worried that Johnson might start helping authorities throughout the investigation. Garcia took action to stop Johnson from naming Garcia as the person who helped him commit the murder.
A GoFundMe account thought to be affiliated with Garcia was set up before his conviction, and in a note posted there, Garcia claimed that he felt oppressed by the “environment” because of his family’s metropolitan location.
According to reports, Garcia said he became a target of an unbalanced law enforcement system.
On Thursday, July 20, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced that Israel Garcia, aka “Shorty Rock,” had been convicted of murder by racketeering, narcotics and murder conspiracy, firearms use and murder by a firearm, possession within a drug trafficking crime, and witness tampering attempts in connection with the death of McClinton.
The maximum sentence for the majority of the charges is life in prison or execution.
