Gangrey
Vol. I · No. 1Prolonging the Slow Death of NewspapersEst. 2026

Invasion

gangs go small

John Doherty: Leray Nelson sat in the front seat of a car in the Colonial Diner parking lot in Middletown. It was June 16 of last year and Nelson, whose arrest record includes charges of crack possession, escape and assault for beating a woman into a coma, was three months paroled from state prison.



It was 5:30 in the morning and Nelson was with two men, both of Brooklyn, and both recent state prison parolees.



Police now say they believe Nelson shared something else, besides time in state prison with the men. Investigators in Middletown say Nelson's stretch behind bars forged a connection between the hometown hoodlum and the Nine Trey Gangstas.



"We believe he was given permission,…

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