Leader of Peekskill drug organization will face life in prison for murders of two drug dealers

WHITE PLAINS – A federal jury in White Plains Friday recommended life in prison without parole for a 32-year-old leader of the Barnes Brothers Organization, a racketeering enterprise in Peekskill.

Khalid Barnes, also known as “Big Homie” and “Lid,” was convicted of the February 2004 murders of drug deals Demond Vaughan and Sergio Santana in Manhattan. The jury also convicted Barnes of racketeering, conspiracy, conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping, possession of a firearm and ammunition and six counts of narcotics trafficking.

Barnes headed up the organization in Peekskill that, from 1995 to 2004, was involved in the distribution of large quantities of crack cocaine, powder cocaine and marijuana, as well as two murders and a kidnapping.

Federal authorities said the Barnes Brothers Organization was selling crack worth between $8,000 and $10,000 a day in the fall 2003.

The jury could have recommended a death sentence or a sentence other than death or life imprisonment. The sentence is binding when the court sentences Barnes in October.