An eight-year prison sentence has been handed down to Andre Butts, convicted in a plot of drugging and robbing unsuspecting LGBTQ club-goers in Manhattan's night scene, according to an announcement by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Butts pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and conspiracy related to incidents outside The Q NYC in Hell's Kitchen and another club on the Lower East Side. Official statements emphasized Butts' acknowledgment of his involvement in the crimes which utilized fentanyl-laced drugs to incapacitate victims and facilitate financial theft, as reported by ABC7 New York.
Butts is one of four men implicated in the string of criminal activities spanning 2021 to 2022, and this tactical predation on the intoxicated and vulnerable outside Manhattan gay bars led not only to theft but, tragically, in some cases to death. Three other men, Jayqwan Hamilton, Robert DeMaio, and Jacob Barroso, were convicted on more serious charges including murder, they are due to face their own reckonings with justice come April 4; the grim ledger of this lethal conspiracy is headlined by the deaths of John Umberger and Julio Ramirez, the men befriended seemingly drunk individuals, deceived them with fentanyl-laced lures and plundered their belongings unabated until the law caught up with their shadowy dealings according to details obtained by CBS News New York.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, in a statement following the sentencing, declared a continuing resolve against such egregious crimes, stating, "Andre Butts is now facing accountability for his role in this deadly and callous conspiracy. He admitted to participating in multiple robberies using fentanyl-laced drugs to incapacitate victims, so he and his co-defendants could drain money from their financial accounts," and expressed hope for the healing of the victims who bore the brunt of such brazen violence and exploitation, as detailed by CBS News New York.
