Feds say Staten Island gang leader John Pena bragged he “walked off like I was John Gotti” after murdering a former associate

The notorious leader of the violent Gorilla Stone Mafia street gang was sentenced Tuesday to life in federal prison for two ruthless gang-related executions on Staten Island, New York. This horrifically includes a victim who was gunned down while sleeping in bed next to the defendant’s ex-girlfriend.

John Pena, 34, also known as “Tragedy,” “Don Tragg,” “Last Don” and “Money Baggz,” received the life sentence from Brooklyn federal Judge Ann Donnelly after prosecutors said he orchestrated murders and drug trafficking operations as head of the Gorilla Stone Mafia. Gorilla Stone is a Bloods-affiliated gang operating out of the Stapleton Houses on Staten Island.

The feds said Pena personally carried out the March 2021 killing of former gang member and friend Mark Bajandas, who had defected to a rival faction. Pena shot his former friend twelve times. Officials alleged Pena later bragged about the slaying, telling others, “I spliffed him and walked off like I was John Gotti.”

Just months later, prosecutors said Pena murdered another former Gorilla Stone member, Francisco Gonzalez, by shooting him three times in the head while Gonzalez slept in bed beside Pena’s ex-girlfriend.

According to the DOJ, investigators later recovered disturbing writings from Pena’s jail cell at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center in which he allegedly confessed to the murders and referenced leaving one victim’s “brains on them sheets.” More of the writings: “Kuz I Turn all my opps into ghost / Francisco I mix them N / Mark / A … shhh / Gotta chill … they don’t Know / Lately how I feel / Like the reaper / If I spot em I’m snatching his soul.” 

Credit: US District Court EDNY

“The leader of Gorilla Stone Mafia, a violent gang, has been sentenced to life in prison,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle said in a statement. “This should serve as a warning to every gangster who believes they are above the law.”

Feds also accused Pena and other gang members of trafficking marijuana, crack cocaine and heroin in Staten Island and Vermont while using intimidation and violence to maintain control over territory around the Stapleton Houses.

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Pena was convicted in September 2024 on multiple federal charges, including racketeering, murder in aid of racketeering, firearms offenses and narcotics conspiracy charges.