“Bruno and Saimir Krasniqi led one of the most brutal and violent organized crime groups in recent memory,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a news conference at the culmination of the five-week trial.
“In one six-month period, they committed two murders, two kidnappings, two drug robberies, and an arson. Today, nearly six years after the brutal murders they orchestrated, the jury’s swift verdict has brought the Krasniqis’ reign of terror to an end and the perpetrators of these vicious crimes to justice.”
The verdict detailed two murders that the brothers were convicted of, including one drive-by shooting in July 2005. Saimir parked in front of rival Albanian gang-member Erion Shehu’s car, leaving him trapped inside, while his brother shot Shehu “approximately 11 times with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun and a .22 caliber handgun equipped with a silencer,” according to the verdict.
The brothers were also found guilty of the January 2006 murder of Erenick Grezda, who had a been member of their organization, because they thought he had collaborated with rival gang from whom Bruno had stolen US$250,000 worth of marijuana. After shooting Grezda in the head, the brothers and other collaborators drove the car he was in to New Jersey and burned it.
The brothers each face up to two mandatory sentences of life in prison, plus another 60-year mandatory minimum sentence for narcotics and firearms verdicts.
Bharara said the FBI’s Balkan Organized Crime Task Force had contributed to the organization, and also thanked Albanian authorities for investigating and extraditing Almir Rrapo, a member of the Krasniqi network who had been working as the senior administrative assistant to the deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Albania when he was arrested. Rrapo has pled guilty to racketeering, murder, kidnapping, narcotics, and firearms charges.
The Krasniqi network had strong operations in the states of New York, Michigan, and Connecticut.
