As kids, they called themselves Team Goofy and for fun broke into houses and caused fights in the neighborhood around Towne Gardens Apartments.
Later, as they grew older, the group evolved into something more sinister, more violent and soon their calling was drug dealing and murder, according to prosecutors.
"Anytime, anywhere, they were prepared to go to war," Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul C. Parisi told a jury Wednesday. "And you don't go to war without an arsenal."
Parisi's assessment of the CBL/BFL, a Buffalo street gang, came at the end of a six-week trial focusing on two murders and allegations of a bloody gang feud.
Dalvon Curry, the man on trial, is accused of being one of the gang's shooters – the members all had different roles – and of firing the gun that killed rival gang member Jaquan Sullivan during a shootout in December 2015.
Indicted with 12 other accused gang members, Curry is the only one facing murder charges and the only one to stand trial. The rest have taken plea deals.
He is also accused of killing Xavier Wimes on New Year's Day in 2017 after Wimes, a member of the CBL/BFL, confronted Curry about his trashing of Wimes' dead cousin on social media.
The FBI, which led the investigation into the gang, says Wimes at some point struck Curry and then, fearing for his safety, fled the apartment they were in.
Eager to escape, he jumped from a window but broke his ankle. Investigators say a fellow gang member was armed and close behind the fleeing Wimes.
"At the other end of that gun, with vengeance in his heart and murder on his mind, was Dalvon Curry," Parisi told the jury in his closing statement.
The Towne Gardens apartment complex on Clinton Street in Buffalo.
Formed about a decade ago, the CBL/BFL gang used the neighborhood around Towne Gardens, just blocks from downtown, as its base of operations and relied on heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine sales to thrive.
An investigation by the FBI's Safe Streets Task Force led to an indictment against Curry and other suspected gang members. The gang's moniker has stood for many things, including "City of Brotherly Love" and "Brothers for Life."
Curry, who has maintained his innocence since the day of his arrest, has argued that the evidence against him is insufficient to find him guilty. He also claims the CBL/BFL members who testified against him were simply telling the government what it wanted to hear in return for leniency in their own sentences.
"They know what the government wants," said defense lawyer Kevin W. Spitler. "They know what the story is."
Spitler has also tried to discredit the rap music videos the government introduced as evidence in the trial. Curry wrote lyrics to the songs and is featured prominently in each one, sometimes holding what appears to be a handgun.
He also suggested that the government's claim about Curry's involvement in the two murders is far-fetched given his reputation as a rapper, not a shooter.
"Just because you hang out with a criminal, that doesn't mean you're a criminal," Spitler told the jury. "Mr. Curry is not the person the government wants you to see."
[Related: Federal indictment details alleged gang feuding near Towne Gardens]
The government's case against Curry is based on more than the two murders, and the other charges against him include racketeering and narcotics conspiracy, both of which could lead to long prison sentences.
By Wednesday, when the last person testified, more than 80 people had taken the witness stand against him.
The prosecution was led by Parisi and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth T. Molisani and Christopher O. Taylor.
The jury will begin deliberations Thursday.
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