Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Wayne Hicks, also known as “Weez,” has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for a series of crimes including drug trafficking and violent offenses. These crimes involved a brutal assault and robbery that took place in New City, New York, on February 28, 2021.
Hicks pleaded guilty on August 25, 2023, in White Plains federal court to multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act Robbery, Hobbs Act Robbery, Travel Act Assault, conspiracy to distribute marijuana, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel handed down the sentencing.
Drug Dealing Yard in Rockland County (Credits; Patch)
The Genesis of the Hicks Rift
The case against Hicks reveals a pattern of violence associated with his drug activities. In one incident in November 2020, Hicks orchestrated an act of violence after one of his marijuana dealers was robbed, arranging for a co-conspirator to shoot one of the robbers.
In another instance in February 2021, after another dealer working for Hicks, Jordan Woodbine, was also robbed, Hicks coordinated retribution through his brother, Dwayne Hicks. Dwayne then, along with accomplices including Tnaiya Williams, Brian Thomas, and Woodbine himself, physically assaulted a victim they believed was involved in the robbery of Woodbine.
This violent act took place in New City, New York, where the assailants forced the victim to strip naked, stole his belongings, including marijuana they believed he had stolen, and subjected him to a brutal beating using a baseball bat, belts, their hands and feet, and a large knife.
Wayne Hicks, a Drug Dealer (Credits: Bristol Live)
Hicks, at times, monitored this attack via video chat. The victim managed to escape, naked and covered in blood, after enduring this horrific ordeal.
The individuals involved in the attack on February 28, 2021, were also convicted alongside Hicks. During a previous sentencing hearing for one of Hicks’s co-defendants, Judge Seibel expressed strong condemnation of the attack, describing it as “sickening,” “vicious,” “stomach-turning,” and an act that defies comprehension in terms of human behavior.
Apart from the prison term, Hicks, who is 32 years old and from Hawthorne, New York, was also sentenced to five years of supervised release.
An Investigative Eye Mounted
Mr. Williams commended the exemplary investigative efforts of several law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), the Clarkstown Police Department, the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office, and the Westchester County Safe Streets Task Force.
This task force comprises special agents and task force officers from various law enforcement entities, including the FBI, U.S. Probation, New York State Police, New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, Rockland County District Attorney’s Office, and several police departments from New York City, Westchester County, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, Greenburgh, White Plains, Peekskill, Ramapo, and Clarkstown.
This case falls under the jurisdiction of the Office’s White Plains Division, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Ly, Josiah Pertz, and Derek Wikstrom leading the prosecution.
