3 Men Sentenced To Decades In Prison For Drugging, Robbing, Killing NYC Gay Bar Patrons

Three men have been sentenced to decades in prison after being found guilty of perpetrating a years-long robbery scheme targeting NYC gay bar patrons that ultimately left two of the victims dead. From NBC’s 4NewYork:

Jayqwan Hamilton, 37, Jacob Barroso, 32, and Robert DeMaio, 36, were found guilty in February of committing murder, robbery and conspiracy in connection with the scheme that lasted from March 2021 to June 2022. Julio Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker, and John Umberger, a 33-year-old political consultant, were murdered in the spring of 2022 in the scheme.

All three of the defendants were convicted of murdering Ramirez. Two of them, Hamilton and DeMaio, were convicted of murdering Umberger. Hamilton and Barroso spoke at the sentencing on Wednesday and maintained their innocence.

Hamilton and DeMaio were sentenced to 40 years to life in prison, and Barroso was sentenced to 20 years to life.

Medical examiners testified that Mr. Umberger and Mr. Ramirez were both killed by a fentanyl-laced drug cocktail. The jury also heard from several other men who described similar encounters. Police believe there are even more victims who haven’t come forward out of embarrassment. Some of the gruesome details via the New York Times:

One night in April 2022, Julio Ramirez left a Manhattan gay bar, escorted by a group of men into a taxi. It was just after 3 a.m.

About an hour later, the taxi driver reported to the police that Mr. Ramirez was alone and abandoned in the back of his cab. Mr. Ramirez’s bank account had been drained, and his wallet, phone and ID stolen. The men had given him a fatal cocktail of drugs before leaving him for dead.

A month later, John Umberger died in an Upper East Side townhouse following an encounter with the men at another bar. After withdrawing more than $20,000 from Mr. Umberger’s accounts, the defendants posed for pictures, toasted next to his unconscious body and lounged on his balcony with drinks.

Initially, police viewed the two deaths as isolated drug overdoses. It was only after the mother of Umberger discovered large sums missing from his bank accounts that she urged the police to dig deeper which led to connecting the three men to the scheme. Three other men – Eddie Ashley, Shane Hoskins and Andre Butts – were also arrested and charged in connection with the crimes. All three pleaded guilty.

Three men were sentenced to decades in prison for drugging, robbing and killing patrons of gay nightlife spots in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood.

[image or embed] — The New York Times (@nytimes.com) May 22, 2025 at 7:29 AM