A Kingston man accused of tipping off a gang hit squad to the whereabouts of an informant shot and killed minutes later will serve 25 years in state prison. That’s potentially more than his fellow Sex Money Murder Bloods set member convicted of orchestrating the entire murder conspiracy from the confines of the Ulster County Jail.
Jermain "Maino" Nicholas.
On Wednesday, Dec. 7, Jermain “Maino” Nicholas, 24, was sentenced by County Court Judge Don Williams to a determinate (no parole) sentence of 25 years in state prison for the felony of intimidating a victim or witness. Williams also handed out separate sentences of 12-and-a-half to 25 years for conspiracy and tampering with a witness and seven-and-a-half to 15 years for criminal facilitation. The sentences, which will run concurrently, are the maximum allowed under New York State Penal law.
Nicholas is the fourth man convicted in the Feb. 10, 2010 execution-style slaying of Charles “C.J.” King Jr. on a dark corner of Cedar Street in Midtown Kingston. During his trial in October, the prosecution argued that Nicholas played a key role in the conspiracy to murder King to prevent him from testifying against Sex Money Murder Blood Jarrin “Phat Boy” Rankin about a November 2009 gun battle on Henry Street, in which Rankin allegedly shot and wounded a man.
On Feb. 10, 2010, around 7 p.m., Nicholas was at the Cedar Street Deli when he spotted King, who had been laying low with a girlfriend in Lake George after testifying against Rankin at a January grand jury proceeding. (Family members have said that King offered his testimony in exchange for leniency on a pending burglary charge.) Nicholas called gang associate Amanda “Blazer Bitch” Miller, who drove to Cedar Street with Rankin’s half-brother, Trevor “Little T” Mattis; alleged Kingston Sex Money Murder leader Gary “G-Money” Griffin; and Rankin’s girlfriend, Dametria “Meaty” Kelley.
Moments later, King was dead with bullets in the back of his head and left arm fired by Mattis. Nicholas kept King at the deli while awaiting his associates, and watched along with Griffin as Mattis and King walked up Cedar Street to the killing ground. Seconds before the shooting, Nicholas got into the back seat of Miller’s car, then threw open the door for Mattis as he fled after the shooting. Nicholas then traveled with the gang to Abeel Street, where Mattis allegedly ditched the murder weapon (which was never recovered) and a hooded sweatshirt in the Rondout Creek.
The argument that kids join gangs because of their environment or needing a sense of belonging is a cop-out. Organizations like church, Boys & Girls Clubs and all the many other “legal” organizations are options to these kids. They choose to join gangs and live a gang life style. A person who helps someone kill another person is as guilty as the person who pulled the trigger. This isn’t about race, its about gangs and gang violence. If the gangs don’t want the stiff penalties that come with criminal activity, they can leave Kingston anytime. This “redneck town” has had enough and it’s about time the criminals find that out. I want to see more of the same penalties handed out and for the gangs to get out.