Federal prosecutors on Wednesday said a former New York Police Department officer helped her gangster boyfriend evade capture after he was named a suspect in a murder investigation.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York also said Gina Mestre, 33, tipped off her boyfriend about a federal grand jury investigation into his Bronx-based gang. She also revealed the identity of a witness, whom the thugs assaulted in retaliation.
Ms. Mestre was charged with racketeering conspiracy, accessory after the fact to murder, obstructing an official proceeding and obstruction of justice. The suspect, who was arrested Tuesday, faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
“Gina Mestre shamelessly exploited her position of public trust to assist gang members in her own NYPD precinct that were terrorizing the Bronx by committing robberies, murders, drug trafficking and other acts of violence,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a press release. “The defendant’s alleged conduct violates the oath she swore to protect the public — as well as her fellow NYPD officers — from the type of criminal activity she helped the gang commit.”
Ms. Mestre worked as an NYPD police officer from June 2013 to May 2022 in the same precinct where the Shooting Boys gang was responsible for violent and drug offenses in the Bronx’s University Heights neighborhood.
Prosecutors said Ms. Mestre began a romantic relationship with Shooting Boys gang leader Andrew “Caballo” Done soon after the two first communicated through “secret social media accounts and phone numbers” in June 2020.
During this time, prosecutors said, Ms. Mestre told Done about a federal indictment being prepared against the gang.
Ms. Mestre informed him of the police manhunt after the gang leader shot and killed a rival gang member in November 2020. Prosecutors said her information let Done evade authorities and flee the U.S.
The gang leader was captured in the Dominican Republic last year.
He pleaded guilty in November to racketeering conspiracy and for his role in the murder and was sentenced to 35 years behind bars.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.