3 men guilty of killing bouncer in robbery of Brooklyn gambling den

It took just a few hours for a federal jury to find a trio of New Jersey men guilty of murdering a bouncer in a botched robbery four years ago at an illegal Brooklyn gambling den.

The two-week Brooklyn Federal Court trial of Charles Powell, Musah Coward and Brian Castro included video of the robbery and fatal shooting, cell tower records showing the suspects’ phone locations that night — and on-the-stand testimony from the fourth member of their robbery crew.

The victim, Rodney Maxwell, 58, a longtime Bellevue Hospital employee who was moonlighting as a security guard at the “G-Spot” in Brownsville, tried to stop the Oct. 7, 2020, robbery before Powell and Castro shot him dead.

The three men face a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison when they’re sentenced June 6 on federal murder and robbery charges.

“I’m just happy they’re off the streets to never do this again to anybody else’s family,” Maxwell’s daughter, Revin Maxwell, 27, told the Daily News. “This won’t bring my father back. I’m just happy this won’t happen to anybody else.”

Maxwell, a father of three, survived a week-long bout with COVID in March 2020, during the early days of the deadly pandemic, just seven months before his death.

Coward, who had ties to Brownsville, picked the target and drove the crew to the gambling den after getting a tip from his cousin that someone had just lost $50,000 and was coming back with another $20,000 to keep gambling, the fourth man, Shamel Myhand, testified.

Coward parked around the corner and stayed in the car while the other men walked inside, single file, then stormed into the gambling den on Hegeman Ave., where people were betting on dice in Cee-Lo and pool.

Powell walked in first, followed by Castro and Myhand — but Maxwell spotted Myhand was armed, and tried to disarm him.

They fought, and Myhand’s gun jammed, but Castro came in to help, shooting the bouncer in the back.

That didn’t stop Maxwell, though.

“He kind of had me, like, pinned down at the time. And he fell on top of me,” Myhand testified. “And he was trying to take my gun again out of my hand and I started pressing the trigger again. And eventually the gun went off and the bullet hit the floor and hit the wall after the floor.”

While they struggled, Powell came from the back patio and shot Maxwell in the chest.

“He fell, and I got up and I ran to the door,” Myhand said.

Castro and Powell rejoined Coward, while Myhand took off running, making his way to the Newport Gardens apartments, where he used to live.

Powell also shot and wounded three people in the gambling den’s patio during the chaos.

“These defendants were motivated to find a robbery, to carry out a ‘lick,’” Assistant U.S. Attorney Andres Palacio said in his closing argument. “They were motivated by greed. They were motivated by getting a quick dollar.”

Myhand said he pocketed $1,200 during the heist, but he told his accomplices he only got $800, “because I felt they left me.” He gave $400 to Coward, he testified.

The jury also heard from a friend of Castro who recorded a conversation in which Castro admitted to the killing, said he made off with thousands of dollars, and mimicked Maxwell’s dying sounds.

“Today’s verdict delivers justice for the victims of this vicious and senseless crime that was driven by greed and carried out with a complete disregard for human life,” U.S. Attorney John J. Durham said. “The defendants are responsible for murdering Rodney Maxwell, who was gunned down in cold blood, and the carnage could have been even worse with the wanton shooting of terrified bystanders.”