In the early 90s, the crack epidemic was in full swing at violence between rival gangs,

the red top crew and the yellow top crew, among others, gripped Harlem and other parts of

the city.

On June 10, 1993, a slender, light-skinned man in his 40s with a gray ponytail rolled

up to a building on West 135th Street and open fire, wounding 15-year-old Henry Gomez

and killing 18-year-old Mani Quintero.

The case went cold for two years.

Then, two members of Yellow Top joined forces with a corrupt detective and officer team

to bring a close to this case in exchange for leniency in their own cases.

Officer AJ Malino had been involved in dealing at some point himself.

The detective was Mark Tabins, the same one responsible for Danny Rinkon's ronfal conviction

in the bungling of another red top crew shooting in the Bronx.

These members of Yellow Top made up a story that Pablo Fernandez had been hired by red

top to carry out the June 10th shooting.

Then, Tabins and Malino used misleading identification tactics to trick or coerce several teenage

eyewitnesses to build what they knew was a farcical case.

The prosecution followed suit to turn Pablo a stocky, darker skined 22-year-old with short

black hair into this slender, 40-something, light-skinned shooter with a gray ponytail.

Pablo spent almost 25 years behind bars and it took nearly a decade and a half of pro bono

work from legal giant Paul Weiss to win his freedom.

This is Ronfal Conviction with Jason Flown.

Hola, hola!

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