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TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that two members of the Nine Trey
Headbustas street gang in Camden, including
the man who led the gang’s drug operations,
have pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit
a murder.
According
to Director Taylor, Juan Vargas, 27, of
Philadelphia, the street commander of the
gang, and Dionicio Adams, 28, of Camden,
pleaded guilty yesterday to first-degree
conspiracy to commit murder before Superior
Court Judge Samuel D. Natal in Camden County.
The men admitted in court that they plotted
to murder another member of the gang, Nathaniel
Clay. Investigators learned of the planned
shooting and arrested the men before it
was carried out.
Under
their plea agreements, the state will recommend
that Vargas be sentenced to 13 to 15 years
in state prison, and that Adams be sentenced
to 10 to 12 years in state prison. Each
man will be required to serve 85 percent
of the sentence imposed without possibility
of parole under the No Early Release Act.
Deputy Attorney General Jill S. Mayer took
the guilty pleas for the Division of Criminal
Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau.
Judge Natal scheduled sentencing for the
two men for July 30.
Vargas
and Adams were indicted on July 8, 2008,
along with the gang’s top leader,
Michael Anderson, and 12 other alleged gang
members. The indictment resulted from a
joint investigation conducted by the New
Jersey Division of Criminal Justice and
the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
(HIDTA) Joint Camden Task Force. The Nine
Trey Headbustas set, which has direct ties
to Philadelphia, was dealing large quantities
of heroin on Broadway Avenue and on Stevens
and Benson Streets in Camden.
“As
a result of this outstanding cooperative
investigation, we have now taken guilty
pleas from 14 defendants. That is all of
the defendants who were indicted, with the
single exception of the gang’s alleged
leader, Michael Anderson, who is incarcerated
in New Jersey State Prison in Trenton,”
said Attorney General Dow. “Our prosecution
of Anderson continues.”
“In
plotting to gun down a fellow gang member,
these two defendants exhibited the proclivity
for violence that characterizes street gangs
like the Nine Trey Headbustas and makes
them so dangerous to our communities,”
said Director Taylor. “These guilty
pleas will remove these violent men from
the street for a long time.”
Anderson,
37, holds the title of “Original Original
Gangster (OOG)” or “Godfather”
of this faction of the Bloods and allegedly
exercised leadership authority from prison.
Vargas was the hands-on leader of the set’s
drug operations. Adams was one of three
“street supervisors” for the
gang. The other two, Nathaniel Clay, 32,
and Hector Archival, 22, both of Camden,
previously pleaded guilty to racketeering
charges.
Anderson
is charged with being a leader of a narcotics
trafficking network, a crime that carries
a sentence of 25 years to life in prison,
as well as conspiracy to commit murder.
Vargas,
Adams and Clay were arrested on Nov. 29,
2007, as a result of the investigation.
Participating agencies executed search warrants
on that date which resulted in the seizure
of approximately 500 bags of heroin, about
3 pounds of marijuana, approximately 2.5
ounces of crack cocaine, two handguns and
roughly $10,000 in cash.
Attorney
General Dow credited Sgt. Richard M. Carlin,
Deputy Attorney General Jill S. Mayer and
former Deputy Attorney General Christopher
St. John for coordinating the investigation
for the New Jersey Division of Criminal
Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau.
Deputy Attorney General Mayer presented
the case to the state grand jury. Attorney
General Dow also credited the following
members of the HIDTA Joint Camden Task Force
for conducting and assisting the investigation:
-
Camden County Prosecutor’s Office
- Camden
City Police Department
-
Camden County Sheriffs Department
-
New Jersey State Police
-
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
-
Federal Bureau of Investigation
-
U.S. Marshals Service
-
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Municipal Task Force Alliance
-
National Guard
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