Alleged Four Block gangster pleads in lesser case

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

In a relatively minor state-level sentence, compared to what he faces if convicted in federal court, one of the alleged original members of the Four Block gang was sentenced today to a year in jail on a gun-related conviction.

Kwame Robinson, 20, formerly of Delamont Avenue, appeared in Schenectady County Court to be sentenced on a prior plea to second-degree attempted criminal possession of a weapon. The sentencing had been delayed because Robinson has been a federal inmate since his indictment in May along with 43 others.

Many of those indicted, including Robinson, are accused of having been members of the Four Block Gang that controlled much of the drug dealing in Schenectady’s Hamilton Hill neighborhood, committing drive-by shootings to protect their turf and feuding with rival gangs.

Robinson particularly is accused in the federal indictment of being one of three “Four Block Original Gangsters.”

In the case today, Robinson and three other individuals were accused of possessing a gun in a car, along with seven grams of crack cocaine on Aug. 14, 2010 in Schenectady. Each of the three others in the car was also included in the federal indictment. Two of them, Arsheen Montgomery and Leon Robinson, are the other two alleged original gang members.

Kwame Robinson agreed today to a change in his plea deal. He had agreed to six months in jail and five years probation, but acting Schenectady County Court Judge Polly Hoye believed Robinson would have trouble with probation, as he had in the past.

Robinson was already on probation for an attempted robbery conviction, one where he received youthful offender status, when he was arrested related to the gun in the car, Hoye noted.

Instead, Robinson agreed to a one-year sentence.

In the end though, the six-month increase might not matter, depending on the outcome of the federal conspiracy case. Those charged in the federal case face 10 years, 20 years and even the possibility of life in prison, if convicted.