Overview
Howard “Pappy” Mason was a major Queens narcotics figure of the late 1980s. The Second Circuit described him as a leader of the Bebos drug gang, which controlled much of the South Jamaica crack trade during that period.
Connection to Lorenzo “Fat Cat” Nichols
Mason was closely associated with Lorenzo “Fat Cat” Nichols during the earlier Nichols organization period. Court records concerning the 1985 killing of parole officer Brian Rooney place Mason within the Nichols network, although the surviving judicial accounts differ about Mason’s exact operational role in that homicide. By 1988, Mason was directing the separate Bebos organization.
Bebos
Federal appellate records describe the Bebos as a large and violent narcotics organization. Between February and mid-August 1988, the organization distributed approximately one kilogram of crack cocaine per week. Mason continued directing the group while incarcerated, transmitting instructions through prison telephone calls and personal visits.
Murder of Officer Edward Byrne
After Mason was imprisoned on a state firearms conviction, federal prosecutors proved that he directed Bebos members to assassinate a New York City police officer. In the early morning of February 26, 1988, four Bebos members approached rookie Officer Edward Byrne while he sat in a marked police car guarding the home of a witness in an unrelated drug case. Byrne was shot five times in the head and killed.
Federal Conviction and Sentence
Mason was tried in federal court in late 1989 and convicted on all counts, including the charge arising from his order to kill Byrne. Competency litigation delayed sentencing. On January 7, 1994, the district court sentenced Mason to life imprisonment; the Second Circuit affirmed in 1995.
Network Connections
- Lorenzo “Fat Cat” Nichols — earlier associate and leader of a related Queens organization.
- Bebos — Mason-led drug gang.
- Edward Byrne — NYPD officer whose murder Mason ordered.
- Brian Rooney — parole officer killed in 1985; Mason appears in some court accounts of the Nichols retaliation, but the exact role is disputed across records.
Evidence Status
A. Mason’s leadership of the Bebos, the organization’s narcotics activity, his order to kill Byrne, conviction, and life sentence are documented in federal appellate records.