Calverton Gang Member Gets Life in Prison

A reputed Bloods gang member from Calverton was sentenced Wednesday to life in federal prison plus 22 years after he was convicted of killing a rival gang member and other crimes.

U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert sentenced Lawrence “L Boogs” Lewis after a jury found him guilty of murder, racketeering, sex trafficking, narcotics distribution and other crimes in November 2021 following a month-long trial at Central Islip federal court.

“A mandatory life sentence is a fitting punishment for Lewis, a gang member who committed murder, rape, sex trafficking and pushed drugs in our community,” said Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “Through his allegiance to the Bloods, the defendant caused considerable harm to others, and that decision has now permanently cost him his freedom.”

Prosecutors said the 41-year-old man killed John Birt, a member of the Crips gang, at the Illusions Gentlemen’s Club in Deer Park on July 29, 2017.  Following the murder, Lewis admitted over text he was “sleeping good” and would “do it again,” according to investigators. 

The Calverton resident also raped and forced a woman into prostitution, distributed large quantities of cocaine base and heroin in Suffolk County between 2004 and 2019, was armed with multiple illegal firearms and tampered with witnesses, authorities said.