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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced
that a leader of the Nine Trey Gangsters set
of the Bloods street gang was convicted today
at trial of multiple counts of attempted murder
and related charges. The defendant was one
of 46 alleged Nine Trey members indicted in
September 2007 as a result of a joint investigation
by the New Jersey State Police and the Division
of Criminal Justice.
According
to Director Gramiccioni, Michael Smart, 26,
of Irvington, who has been incarcerated in
the Atlantic County Jail, was convicted following
a three week trial in front of Superior Court
Judge Charles A. Delehey in Mercer County.
Smart was convicted of first-degree racketeering,
one count of first-degree attempted murder,
first-degree conspiracy to commit murder,
conspiracy, weapons offenses and resisting
arrest.
Supervising
Deputy Attorney General Andrew Butchko and
Deputy Attorney General James Ruberton handled
the trial for the Division of Criminal Justice
Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau.
Smart
is scheduled to be sentenced on March 27.
He faces multiple 25 years to life sentences
on first degree charges.
“This
defendant epitomizes the rampant violence
of the Nine Trey set and other gangs that
are plaguing many of our communities with
gunfire and bloodshed,” said Attorney
General Milgram. “In a month’s
time, he attempted to kill or plotted to kill
three people, including a member of his own
gang and two members of rival gangs. We will
continue our efforts to cripple these violent
gangs with investigations and prosecutions
aimed at disrupting their command structures.”
In
convicting Smart, a reputed “Universal
4-Star General” in Nine Trey, the jury
found that between May 3 and May 17, 2006,
Smart attempted to kill two members of rival
gangs in Newark and Irvington, and also conspired
to kill another Nine Trey member in Atlantic
City.
The Mercer County jury determined that Smart
took part in a May 4, 2006 shooting of a member
of the Crips street gang in Irvington.
Following
the shooting, Smart fled to Atlantic City
where he conspired to kill another Nine Trey
member, the jury found. Smart was arrested
on May 17, 2006, in possession of a .38 caliber
handgun.
Smart
was also found to have conspired with others
to distribute cocaine and marijuana in Newark
and Irvington, and to have assisted members
of the Bloods in Atlantic City in the distribution
of cocaine.
The
Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized
Crime Bureau has thus far obtained guilty
pleas from 27 of the defendants indicted in
the Nine Trey investigation, resulting in
sentences between 5 years and 16 years in
state prison.
“Through
prosecutions such as this one, we are working
to take gunmen off the streets and reduce
the violence inflicted on our communities,”
said Director Gramiccioni “We will continue
to work cooperatively with law enforcement
at all levels and use intelligence-led investigations
to combat gangs and gun violence.”
Attorney
General Milgram credited the following agencies
for their work on the investigation and prosecution:
-
Division of Criminal Justice
-
New Jersey State Police
- Newark
Police Department
-
Irvington Police Department
- Essex
County Prosecutor’s Office
- Atlantic
City Police Department
- Atlantic
County Prosecutor’s Office
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