A high-ranking member of the Queens-based “Black Rain” drug crew was sentenced Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court to thirty years in prison for his role in three cold-case murders across south Queens.
In August, Jerome “Sha” Jones, 60, of West Virginia, pleaded guilty to murder while engaged in narcotics trafficking for his role in the 1991 murder of Oscar Flow in Springfield Gardens.
As part of his plea, Jones also admitted to his role in the 1992 murders of Robert Arroyo in South Ozone Park and Dorothy Taylor at her South Queens home. All three murders were related to his narcotics trafficking operation.
The “Black Rain” street gang sold narcotics at several locations along Rockaway Boulevard in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The gang trafficked in massive quantities of drugs, selling heroin under the brand name “Black Rain,” cocaine under the brand name “White Lightning,” and crack cocaine under the brand name “Thunder.”
In the early 1990s, a single Black Rain drug lair brought in approximately $10,000 per day in narcotics sales. To protect its profitable operation, the gang committed serious acts of violence, including murder.
In December 1991, Jones learned that Oscar Flow had stolen from his Black Rain crew and he and his co-conspirator shot Flow multiple times in his head and body in Springfield Gardens. Jones later bragged to an underling that Flow got “six in the head” for stealing from Black Rain.
In August 1992, Jones recruited and paid two co-conspirators to murder Robert Arroyo, whom Jones believed was a drug-trafficking competitor and a police informant. In the first attempt, the recruits mistakenly shot and seriously injured another man they incorrectly believed to be Arroyo. The victim survived his wounds. On Sept. 8, 1992, near 128th Street and Rockaway Boulevard in South Ozone Park, where Jones managed a drug spot, he set up Arroyo for another hit. This time, the recruits located Arroyo on the crowded street and opened fire, striking him multiple times and killing him.
In November 1992, Jones ordered the killing of Dorothy Taylor, who he blamed for having a Black Rain drug spot shut down by law enforcement when she failed to pay the rent and city marshals padlocked the apartment. Jones again paid a co-conspirator to commit the murder. On Nov. 2, 1992, Taylor was shot to death in the driveway of her home by the co-conspirator.
U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis sentenced Jones to thirty years imprisonment.
“Jones now faces decades in prison for his role in a violent drug organization and for several vicious killings committed within less than one year,” U.S. Attorney John Durham said. “His sentence is a reminder that no matter how much time has passed, my office and our law enforcement partners will not rest until murderers like the defendant are held accountable and justice is served for the victims.”
