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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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