A Medford member of the Bloodhound Brims street gang was sentenced to 22 years in prison after pleading guilty to an armed robbery and a murder conspiracy tied to the mistaken-identity killing of a 44-year-old schoolteacher, prosecutors said.
Joel Badger, 20, was sentenced July 8 by Acting Supreme Court Justice Anthony S. Senft Jr. He will also serve five years of post-release supervision, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney.
Badger pleaded guilty Jan. 12 to second-degree conspiracy, a Class B felony, and first-degree robbery, a Class B violent felony.
According to prosecutors and Badger’s admissions during his plea, he was an active Bloodhound Brims member who committed violence at the direction of higher-ranking gang members to gain status or promotions within the organization.
The conspiracy operated from August 2021 through February 2024 and included the April 1, 2023, killing of Kimberly Midgette in Hempstead, prosecutors said.
Authorities said Badger and other gang members mistakenly believed Midgette was a rival gang member when she was shot and killed.
Midgette was an elementary schoolteacher in the Bronx. Nassau County prosecutors previously said she had driven to a Hempstead residence to drop off her 10-year-old daughter when a stolen black Honda Accord passed her Toyota Corolla and an occupant opened fire.
Midgette was fatally struck, and a friend sitting in the front passenger seat was shot in the arm. Her daughter, who was sitting in the back seat, was not injured. Prosecutors said Midgette was not the intended target.
Badger still faces prosecution on a separate murder charge in Nassau County connected to Midgette’s death. That charge remains pending, and he is presumed innocent of it unless proven guilty.
The Suffolk County conviction also covered an armed robbery that occurred Sept. 27, 2023, in Ridge.
Prosecutors said Badger and two accomplices lured a victim to a parking lot. Once the victim arrived, Badger displayed a firearm and robbed the victim before one of his accomplices slashed the victim with a knife.
Badger was one of 31 defendants charged in February 2024 following a long-term investigation into the Bloodhound Brims.
The 103-count indictment covered three conspiracies and 34 separate incidents, including 18 shootings and three armed robberies. Investigators also recovered 12 loaded handguns that prosecutors said had been used in 13 shootings.
All 31 defendants charged in the investigation have now been convicted, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
“This sentence should send a clear message to all gang members that gang violence will not be tolerated in Suffolk County,” Tierney said.
The investigation was led by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Gang Task Force and the Suffolk County Police Department’s Gun Crime Reduction Unit, with assistance from several local and federal law enforcement agencies.
Photo: SCDA
