Brooklyn federal prosecutors on Thursday unsealed a superseding indictment that they say puts two alleged Folk Nation Gangster Disciples leaders on the hook for deadly shootings in 2012 and 2015. The new five-count case builds on earlier gun and conspiracy charges and recasts them as part of a racketeering conspiracy that, according to prosecutors, sweeps in murder, robbery, fraud and narcotics trafficking. Named in the filing are Kwyme Waddell and Paolo Alfarobarber, with co-defendant Joel Myrie also identified.
In a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, prosecutors say Waddell is charged with killing Franklin McPherson on September 25, 2012, and Alfarobarber is charged with killing Armani Thomas on November 10, 2015. According to that statement, McPherson was shot while sitting on his front porch in East Flatbush, and Thomas was shot in the stairwell of his apartment building. The announcement also appeared on the office’s official X account.
The new filing is part of a broader federal push against a Gangster Disciples subset prosecutors call "No Love City." That wider campaign already produced a 2024 indictment over a Father’s Day 2022 drive-by shooting in Canarsie that seriously injured a man, as reported by Brooklyn Eagle. In that earlier case, prosecutors alleged gang members used three cars, including a shooter vehicle and two decoys, to go after rivals on a residential block. Federal authorities now say the superseding indictment links the 2022 violence to the defendants’ broader racketeering activity.
Superseding filing and charges
“Today’s superseding indictment charging two murderers demonstrates our Office’s commitment to seek justices for all victims, regardless of how long it takes,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said in the office’s statement, which credited the FBI and the NYPD Metro Safe Streets Task Force with assisting the investigation. The press release lists the matter as E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 24‑CR‑351 and notes that the Organized Crime and Gangs Section is handling the prosecution.
Background and what happens next
Federal and local prosecutors have repeatedly gone after the Folk Nation Gangster Disciples in Brooklyn in recent years, accusing members of “hunting” rival crews and carrying out retaliatory shootings, according to prior cases and public filings. Local coverage has detailed a series of arrests, indictments and shootings tied to the gang’s activity in Canarsie and East Flatbush, supporting prosecutors’ claim that members seek status through violent acts, as noted by Brooklyn Paper.
The accusations in the superseding indictment remain just that, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in court. Additional court dates and detention hearings are expected in federal court in Brooklyn as prosecutors and defense lawyers prepare for pretrial proceedings.
