TRENTON – Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced that two juveniles were waived to adult status and pleaded guilty today to dealing drugs for the Nine Trey Headbusta street gang, a violent set of the Bloods that has been dealing large quantities of crack cocaine and heroin in Camden’s Broadway Avenue business district.
According to Director Paw, Ali Williams, 17, and Ezequiel Rivera, 17, both of Camden, pleaded guilty today to second-degree racketeering before Superior Court Judge Samuel D. Natal in Camden County. Under the plea agreements, the state will recommend that each defendant be sentenced to five years in state prison.
In pleading guilty, Williams and Rivera admitted that they were associates of the Nine Trey Head Busta set and sold drugs for the gang. Deputy Attorneys General Jill S. Mayer and Christopher St. John took the guilty pleas for the Division of Criminal Justice - Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. Judge Natal set April 18 as the sentencing date for the two defendants.
“Gangs use juveniles to conduct their criminal activities with a belief that their juvenile status will mean less severe sentences for their crimes,” said Attorney General Milgram. “By prosecuting these juveniles as adults, we send a message that we will not tolerate this culture of youth violence and gang activity.”
The two juveniles were arrested on Jan. 11 along with four adult gang members. Four other gang members were arrested in November. The defendants, all Camden residents, were arrested as a result of a six-month joint investigation conducted by the Division of Criminal Justice and the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Joint Camden Task Force. The Nine Trey Headbusta set, which has direct ties to Philadelphia, has utilized violence and intimidation to protect its turf in Camden, including Broadway Avenue and Stevens and Benson Streets.
Three men, Juan Vargas, 24, Nathaniel Clay, 30, and Dionicio Adams, 26, were arrested on Nov. 29 on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder, a first-degree offense, as a result of the investigation. No details of the alleged murder plot are being released. Javiel Ford, 20, was arrested on Nov. 30 on drug charges. On Jan. 11, new charges were filed against those defendants. Vargas, an alleged leader of the Headbusta set, was charged with leading a narcotics trafficking network and racketeering, both first-degree offenses. Clay, Adams and Ford were also charged with first-degree racketeering, along with four of the new arrestees.
A full list of defendants and charges can be found in the Jan. 14 press release posted on the Attorney General’s Web site at www.njpublicsafety.com.
The charges filed against the remaining defendants are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Attorney General Milgram credited State Investigator Richard M. Carlin and Deputy Attorneys General Mayer and St. John for coordinating the investigation for the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice. She also credited the following members of the HIDTA Joint Camden Task Force for conducting and assisting in 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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