Oct 2 - N.Y. rapper, others charged in deadly heist

MIAMI VICTIMS
N.Y. rapper, others charged in deadly heist
A small-time rapper is charged with robbing two Miami men and killing one in a New Jersey hotel.
BY ANA M. ALAYA
Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger

A small-time New York rapper was charged with robbing two Miami men and killing one of them in a New Jersey hotel room.

The 28-year-old rapper, known as Charly ''Max B'' Wingate, is accused of masterminding a plot to rob Allan Plowden and his friend, David Taylor, both of Miami.

Wingate was charged Friday with felony murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery. He faces life in prison if convicted on all counts.

Bergen County prosecutor John Molinelli said Wingate and his accomplices, who included a hooker girlfriend and a gunman, were unaware that another group of would-be thieves -- two hookers and two car sound system workers -- had plans to rob the South Florida men.

Two weeks ago Plowden, 41, and Taylor, 29, went from Miami to Fort Lee, N.J., apparently looking to upgrade their Mercedes-Benz and BMW with sound systems.

They met with Julio Cruz, 27, and Edward Blancaneaux, 30, both of the Bronx, about the work.

But the Bronx men had observed Plowden and Taylor spending tons of money at a Bronx topless bar called Sin City, the prosecutor said.

At one point, Cruz arranged a meeting with Plowden and a former employee of Sin City, Gina Maria Conway, 29, a prostitute from the Bronx.

Cruz and Blancaneaux cooked up a plot to rob Plowden and Taylor, and hired two other prostitutes, Maite Castro, 23, and Gisselle Nieves, 24, Molinelli said.

''They asked Nieves and Castro to soften them up, make them loose and let their guard down,'' Molinelli said.

But unbeknownst to the would-be robbers, Conway was scheming to rob Plowden and Taylor as well, and contacted her rapper boyfriend, Wingate, to help, according to Molinelli.

Around 3 a.m. Sept. 22, at a Holiday Inn in Fort Lee, Conway and an accomplice of Wingate, Kelvin Leerdam of New York, knocked on Plowden's door, authorities said.

''At that time Mr. Leerdam held a gun to Mr. Plowden and Ms. Nieves,'' Molinelli said. The woman was duct-taped and put in the bathroom.

After Plowden said he did not have cash, he was ordered to call his partner, Taylor. When Taylor entered the room, Leerdam shot him in the head, authorities said.

Cruz and Blancaneaux never got a chance to carry their scheme out.

The robbers stole $800 and a watch, leaving without $30,000 in cash that the Miami men had stashed.

Wingate was charged with felony murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery. Leerdam and Conway were charged with murder, felony murder and robbery. Plowden was charged with money laundering and possession of identity theft equipment.

Castro, Nieves, Cruz and Blancaneaux were charged with conspiracy to commit robbery.