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For Immediate Release:  
For Further Information:
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September 25, 2008  

Peter Aseltine
609-292-4791

Office of The Attorney General
- Anne Milgram, Attorney General
Division of Criminal Justice
- Deborah L. Gramiccioni, Director

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12 Members of Violent Bloods Set Charged - State Police, Division of Criminal Justice, Department of Corrections and Paterson Police uncover murder plots and prison drug smuggling

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TRENTON – Attorney General Anne Milgram announced that 12 alleged members and associates of the violent Nine Trey Hillside Beehive set of the Bloods street gang, including its two top leaders, were charged today as a result of a joint investigation targeting the Paterson-based set. Eleven defendants were arrested, and the remaining one is being sought on a warrant.

The charges resulted from a year-long investigation called Operation Swarm led by the New Jersey State Police, Division of Criminal Justice, Department of Corrections’ Special Investigations Division and Paterson Police Department. The gang activities of this Bloods set extend through Passaic, Essex, Monmouth and Cumberland counties, but its primary area of operations is Paterson. The investigation also uncovered smuggling of drugs into the state prisons.

“By taking down the leadership of the Hillside Beehive set, we can be most effective in disrupting the narcotics dealing and violence that are its stock in trade,” said Attorney General Milgram. “Members of this gang, including the leaders we charged today, have been quick to use violence to enforce internal discipline and protect their turf in Paterson. This is one of the first investigations where we have filed charges under New Jersey’s new provisions targeting the criminal activities of gangs, which were signed into law in January by Governor Corzine.”

The set’s leader, or “Godfather,” Clarence Scott, 34, allegedly ran the gang from New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, where he is serving a life sentence as a result of convictions in 2002 for offenses including murder and attempted murder of a police officer. Scott was charged today with conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering, both first-degree crimes, and being a leader of organized crime, a second-degree crime. He also was charged under the state’s new criminal code provisions with first-degree gang criminality and second-degree solicitation to join a criminal street gang.

Asmar Bease, 28, of Paterson, also was charged today with conspiracy to commit murder and other charges. Bease allegedly was Scott’s top man outside prison. Bease allegedly utilized violence and intimidation to control his turf of 17th Avenue and East 28th Avenue in Paterson. Scott and Bease allegedly plotted to kill another member of the Nine Trey Gangsters, but the plot was thwarted as a result of this investigation.

Bease was already in the Passaic County Jail, along with another leading gang member, Corey Cauthen, 27, of Paterson. The two men were arrested by the Paterson Police Department and State Police in August on a charge of attempted murder for allegedly shooting a 37-year-old man during a confrontation on 17th Avenue in Paterson. Bease was also charged today with being a leader of organized crime, racketeering, gang criminality and promotion of organized street crime.

In addition, Bease and Cauthen were charged with conspiracy to commit murder for allegedly plotting to kill a man who Cauthen may have believed targeted him in a July 18 shooting outside an apartment at 227 17th Avenue in which a woman was wounded in the leg. Bease and other gang members allegedly used the apartment as a base for drug dealing and gang meetings.

The nine other defendants face various charges, including possession and distribution of heroin, cocaine and marijuana; unlawful transfer of a firearm; promotion of organized street crime; gang criminality; and solicitation to join a street gang. A full list of defendants and charges is included below. In addition to the 12 individuals charged today, eight defendants were arrested previously on drug charges as a result of Operation Swarm.

The investigation revealed that members of the Nine Trey Hillside Beehive set who were incarcerated in state prisons were using female associates to smuggle drugs into the prisons during contact visits. Two men, David Clay, 33, who is in Bayside State Prison, and Issac Porter, 37, of Paterson, were charged today with conspiring to smuggle narcotics into the state prisons. Porter is still being sought on a warrant. Two women were charged with assisting in the smuggling: Cynthia Gainey, 37, of Paterson, was charged with attempting to smuggle marijuana to Clay in Bayside State Prison, and Tyla Chance, 36, was charged with procuring drugs to be smuggled into prison. The prison smuggling allegedly was carried out under the supervision of Scott and Bease.

As a result of arrests made during the investigation and a search warrant executed at 227 17th Avenue in Paterson on Aug. 13, detectives seized 6,850 decks of heroin worth approximately $48,000, 50 ten-dollar bags of crack cocaine, and six small bags of marijuana.

The charges filed are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. First-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $200,000 fine, while second-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $150,000 fine. Third-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

Attorney General Milgram credited the lead investigators and attorney, Detective Mark Finnegan of the New Jersey State Police Street Gang North Unit; Deputy Attorney General Christopher Romanyshyn of the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau; Investigator Raphael Dolce of the Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division; and Detective Sgt. Dalton Price of the Paterson Police Department Gang Intelligence Unit. Attorney General Milgram also credited the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office and the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department for their valuable assistance. She thanked all of the individuals who worked on the investigation for each of the participating agencies.

These 12 defendants were charged as follows:

  • Clarence Scott, 34, Trenton State Prison. Leader of Organized Crime (2nd degree), Conspiracy to Commit Murder (1st degree), Racketeering (1st degree), Gang Criminality (1st degree), Solicitation to Join a Criminal Street Gang (2nd degree).
  • Asmar Bease, 28, Paterson. Leader of Organized Crime (2nd degree), Conspiracy to Commit Murder (1st degree), Racketeering (1st degree), Gang Criminality (1st degree), Promotion of Organized Street Crime (1st degree).
  • Corey Cauthen, 27, Paterson. Conspiracy to Commit Murder (1st degree), Distribution of a Controlled Dangerous Substance (2nd degree), Employing a Juvenile to Commit a Drug Offense (2nd degree), Gang Criminality (1st degree), Promotion of Organized Street Crime (1st degree).
  • Aimee Harker, 32, Vineland. Gang Criminality (2nd degree).
  • Roshiema James, 36, Paterson. Distribution of a Controlled Dangerous Substance (2nd degree), Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Dangerous Substance (2nd degree), Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Dangerous Substance (3rd degree), Gang Criminality (2nd degree).
  • Lewis Alford, 32, Keansburg. Unlawful Transfer of Firearm (4th degree), Gang Criminality (3rd degree).
  • Cynthia Gainey, 37, Paterson. Possession of Marijuana (3rd degree), Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute (3rd degree), Gang Criminality (2nd degree).
  • David Clay, 33, Bayside State Prison. Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Dangerous Substances (3rd degree), Conspiracy to Possess Controlled Dangerous Substances (3rd degree).
  • Issac Porter, 37, Paterson. Conspiracy to Possess a Controlled Dangerous Substance (3rd degree), Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Dangerous Substance (3rd degree), Gang Criminality (2nd degree), Promotion of Organized Street Crime (2nd degree), Solicitation to Join a Street Gang (3rd degree).
  • Tyla Chance, 36, Paterson. Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Dangerous Substance (3rd degree), Gang Criminality (2nd degree).
  • Kahseem S. Allah-Shabazz, 31, Paterson. Distribution of Controlled Dangerous Substance (3rd degree).
  • 17-year-old male juvenile from Paterson. Distribution of Controlled Dangerous Substance (3rd degree).

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