Alleged Bloods gang member who shot a man on Main Street in Riverhead in 2016 sentenced to 14 years in prison

An alleged Bloods gang member who shot another man outside the Suffolk Theater on Nov. 26, 2016 has been sentenced to 14 years in prison following his guilty plea in April to attempted murder and other felony charges.

Jovan Bailey, 31, of Medford, also pleaded guilty in May to shooting a man on Jan, 14, 2017 outside an Oakdale bar.

Bailey was sentenced yesterday by Suffolk County Court Judge Stephen Braslow to 14 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision.

Bailey pleaded guilty on April 12, to charges of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, a B felony; Criminal Use of a Firearm in the First Degree, a B felony; Assault in the First Degree, a B felony; and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a C felony. Orders of protection were issued for the two victims.

“This is a dangerous individual and an alleged gang member who repeatedly committed senseless acts of gun violence and then attempted to evade law enforcement by fleeing Suffolk County,” Suffolk District Attorney Timothy Sini said. “Thanks to excellent collaboration between our office and our partners in the Suffolk County Police Department, Riverhead Police Department, and U.S. Marshals Service, he is now serving a significant prison sentence and being held accountable for these crimes.”

Bailey shot a victim twice in the chest outside the Suffolk Theater on East Main Street on On November 26, 2016, at approximately 3:25 a.m., according to prosecutors. On January 14, 2017, at approximately 3:05 a.m., he shot a different victim once in the leg outside Shakers Pub, in Oakdale, Sini’s office said in a press release Wednesday night. The vehicle in which Bailey fled the scene of the shooting was located by the Suffolk County Police Department. Its owner, Jessica Hardy, 29, of Bellport, was arrested later that morning for illegally possessing an unloaded Glock 9mm semiautomatic pistol found in the car, prosecutors said.

A forensic analysis of the weapon found that it matched evidence recovered at the two shooting scenes and DNA analysis tied both Hardy and Bailey to the firearm, the D.A.’s office said. An investigation by the Suffolk County Police Department, Riverhead Police Department and Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office of the two incidents further identified Bailey as the shooter.

Following the second shooting, Bailey fled the state, according to the district attorney. He was arrested in Massachusetts on March 7, 2017 by the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force of the U.S. Marshals Service and was brought back to Suffolk County for prosecution.

Hardy pleaded guilty on May 23, 2018, to Attempted Criminal Possession of a Firearm, an A misdemeanor. She was sentenced on July 25 by Judge Braslow to three years of probation.