|
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 sentenced to 70 years in prison
today.
According to Director Gramiccioni,
Michael Smart, 26, of Irvington, who has been
incarcerated in the Atlantic County Jail,
was sentenced to 70 years in state prison,
including more than 46 years without possibility
of parole, by Superior Court Judge Charles
A. Delehey in Mercer County. A jury last week
convicted Smart of racketeering, conspiracy
to commit murder, attempted murder, conspiracy,
weapons offenses and resisting arrest following
a three-week trial.
Smart 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. 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.
“This defendant epitomized
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. “This
sentence will ensure that he will be in prison
for a very long time. We will continue our
efforts to cripple these violent gangs with
investigations and prosecutions aimed at disrupting
their command structures.”
Judge Delehey sentenced Smart
to consecutive terms of 15 years on the racketeering
charge; 40 years on the conspiracy to commit
murder charge, of which he must serve 85 percent
without possibility of parole under New Jersey’s
No Early Release Act; and 15 years on the
attempted murder charge, of which he must
serve 85 percent without parole.
In convicting Smart, a reputed
“Universal 4-Star General” in
Nine Trey, the jury found 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. The Irvington shooting
victim survived, and members of the Atlantic
City Police Department, Atlantic County Prosecutor’s
Office and State Police intervened to prevent
the Atlantic City murder plot from being carried
out.
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 other
defendants indicted in the Nine Trey investigation,
resulting in sentences between five 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
#
# # |
