TRENTON
- Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Mercer
County Prosecutor Joseph L. Bocchini Jr.
today announced that 14 Trenton residents
have been charged with first-degree racketeering
as alleged members of the Gangster Killer
Bloods set of the Bloods street gang. The
indictment charges the alleged area leader
of the gang, Bernard Green, with three murders,
including the August 2005 murder of Sharee
Voorhees, who was caught in gunfire while
out on her porch.
The
state grand jury indictment stems from “Operation
Capital City,” an investigation by
the Division of Criminal Justice, Mercer
County Prosecutor’s Office, Trenton
Police Department and State Police. It was
returned July 14 but sealed until today.
The investigation stems from a prior investigation
of the same name. The investigation moved
in a new direction under the guidance of
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s
Violent Enterprise Source Targeting (VEST)
initiative, in which all levels of law enforcement
pursue joint strategies to dismantle criminal
organizations. The Division of Criminal
Justice and Mercer County Prosecutor’s
Office will jointly prosecute the defendants.
The
murders and other acts of violence charged
in the indictment occurred in 2005, when
violence erupted between the Gangster Killer
Bloods and two rival Bloods sets, the Nine
Trey Gangsters and Sex Money Murder. Green,
28, a.k.a. Petey Black, a “five-star
general” in the Gangster Killer Bloods
or G-Shine set, allegedly directed the gang’s
activities, including drug trafficking and
violence involving assault rifles and semi-automatic
handguns, which were used to defend the
gang’s turf and settle scores with
other gangs. The defendants allegedly conspired
to intimidate victims and witnesses, and
made threats against members of law enforcement.
“Sharee
Voorhees tragic death in August 2005 brought
home to Trenton residents the senselessness
of the gang violence that was enveloping
the city and the danger it posed to everyone,
not just gang members,” said Attorney
General Dow. “We have now charged
the alleged leader of this violent gang
and a second man in her death. We are determined
to see that justice is done for her.”
“The
indictment in this case represents countless
hours of investigation by all of the law
enforcement agencies here today,”
said Prosecutor Bocchini. “These investigators
and prosecutors left no stone unturned.
Through these indictments, we are one step
closer to bringing closure to the Voorhees
and Washington families and ensuring that
Green and his associates are brought to
justice.”
"The
Summer of 2005 was no doubt the most violent
period of time that the city of Trenton
has experienced, with gang-related violence
terrorizing the citizens of our city,"
said Captain Joseph S. Juniak (Commanding
Officer of the Trenton Police Department's
Criminal Investigation Bureau). "The
efforts put forth by the agencies involved
in ‘Operation Capital City’
have resulted in identifying those individuals
responsible and hopefully bringing some
closure to the family members of the victims
and to the citizens of our city whose lives
were so tragically affected by the senseless
acts of these thugs. Justice must prevail."
John
G. McCabe, Jr., Acting Special Agent in
Charge of the DEA New Jersey Division stated,
“VEST is a unique ‘pulling together’
of city, county, state and federal agency
leaders with the main goal of sharing intelligence
and prioritizing joint and sustained enforcement
activities against violent criminal organizations.”
“We
adopted a global approach to taking down
this Bloods set in Trenton by bringing a
strong racketeering case against its alleged
leader and key members, as well as charging
specific acts of violence and other predicate
offenses,” said John Quelch, Deputy
Director of the Division of Criminal Justice.
“It takes time to build a racketeering
case, and this indictment is a testament
to the outstanding cooperative work of all
of the agencies, investigators and attorneys
involved.”
“The
indictment of these gang members is a victory
for law enforcement, but we know the battle
against street gangs is not over,”
said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent
of the New Jersey State Police. “We
have to continue to investigate, arrest,
and indict the members of these criminal
enterprises to ensure their demise. The
use of intelligence led policing methods
and the sharing of resources remains paramount
to our success in disrupting and eliminating
their presence in our state.”
Green
is charged along with Keith “Droop”
Parker, 29, in the murder of Voorhees, 22,
who was fatally wounded in gunfire on Monmouth
Street on Aug. 28, 2005. The men allegedly
were part of a group of gang members who
targeted a car they believed was occupied
by Joseph James, a.k.a. “Hell Rell,”
a reputed high-ranking member of the Nine
Trey Gangsters. It was the wrong car. The
car was driven by Michael Cadlett, who had
five passengers. One bullet struck Cadlett
in the stomach, and another traveled down
the street and hit Voorhees in the chest.
Green
was arrested by the participating agencies
on a complaint warrant charging him with
racketeering on July 13. He is being held
in a jail outside of Mercer County with
bail set at $400,000. The state is filing
a motion to increase bail for Green on the
new indictment. Five other defendants were
arrested on warrants since July 14 in connection
with the indictment. A sixth is being sought
on an arrest warrant. The other defendants
were already incarcerated. All defendants
are from Trenton.
Green
and 10 other defendants are charged with
conspiring to unlawfully possess, use and
traffick in guns. Green is personally charged
with being a leader of organized crime and
with numerous narcotics and weapons offenses.
Green
and Richard “Bandanna” Jenkins,
25, are charged in the June 20, 2005 murder
of Otis Jones, 26, who was shot in the head
at Brunswick Avenue and Sanford Street.
This indictment supersedes a March 2006
indictment obtained by the Mercer County
Prosecutor’s Office which charged
the two men with the murder. Jones allegedly
was shot because he showed disrespect to
gang members while trying to recover a gold
necklace of his that had been stolen.
In
addition, Green, Anthony “Ace”
Coleman, 25, and Curtis “Lil Curt”
Hawkins, 23, are charged in the murder of
Kareem Washington, 28, of the Nine Trey
Gangsters. He was fatally shot in the neck
on Ellsworth Avenue on Aug. 28, 2005, the
same day Voorhees was shot, allegedly in
retaliation for shootings the day before
on Passaic Street that wounded three Gangster
Killer Bloods members.
A
fifteenth defendant, Robert “Snoop”
Christie, 24, of Trenton, an alleged leader
of the Nine Trey Gangsters, is charged in
the indictment with aggravated assault for
allegedly firing shots at the home of a
Gangster Killer Bloods member on Aug. 28,
2005 and making terroristic threats to Green
in response to the killing of Washington.
Green,
Coleman, Hawkins, Parker, Leroy “L
Tutt” Tutt, 23, Ronald “Double
R” Smith, 27, Jabari “Bari”
Cross, 30, and Anthony “Yak”
Howlett, 26, are charged with conspiring
to murder unnamed members of the Nine Trey
Gangsters.
In
additional counts of the indictment, Green
is charged along with Tutt, Hawkins and
Bruce “Black Magic” Duette,
29, with conspiring to murder members of
the Crips gang, and with attempted murder
in connection with drive-by shootings targeting
the Crips. Green and Tutt are charged with
aggravated assault in the July 23, 2005
shooting of Rochelle Solomon, who was wounded
in the chest in a drive-by shooting at North
Logan Avenue and Van Camp Alley.
The
indictment supersedes two other indictments
obtained by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s
Office, a March 2006 indictment charging
Green with narcotics offenses, and an October
2006 indictment charging Green with attempted
murder in the shooting of Cadlett.
Also
charged in the indictment are Ronald “Sauce”
Stevens, 39; Ebony Rowell, 28; Donte “Chalant”
Ellis, 33; and Curtis “Pud”
Morgan, 37.
Five
defendants were arrested by the participating
agencies without incident on Friday, July
16. Superior Court Judge Pedro Jimenez Jr.
set bail at $1 million, cash only, with
a requirement of a bail source hearing,
for four of them: Parker, Tutt, Howlett
and Stevens. He set bail at $700,000 for
the fifth, Ebony Rowell. A sixth defendant,
Hawkins, is being sought on a warrant issued
in connection with the indictment.
The
full indictment is posted with this press
release at www.njpublicsafety.com.
Attorney
General Dow commended the dedicated efforts
of all of the attorneys and investigators
who have worked on the case, including:
For
the Division of Criminal Justice and its
Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau, Supervising
Deputy Attorney General Andrew Butchko,
Deputy Attorney General Daniel Bornstein,
Special Deputy Attorney General Steven Bennet,
Lead Detective Cortney Lawrence, Detective
Edward Augustyn III, Sgt. Keith Stopko,
Lt. Richard J. Nocella, Chief of Detectives
Paul Morris and First Deputy Chief of Detectives
Allan Buecker.
For
the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office,
Assistant Prosecutor Lewis Korngut, who
is Chief of the Mercer County Homicide Unit,
Lead Detective Brian Kiely, Acting Chief
William Straniero, Lt. Richard Frascella,
Sgt. Michael Novembrie, Detective James
Francis, and Retired Detective Frank Clayton.
For
the Trenton Police Department, Lt. Chris
Doyle, Detective Frank Guido, Detective
Gary Britton, Detective Nathan Bolognini,
the Trenton Police Crime Scene Unit, and
Former Police Director Irving Bradley.
For
the New Jersey State Police, the Electronic
Surveillance Unit and from the Organized
Crime Control Central Bureau, Bureau Chief
Lt. Rick Nuel, Lt. Jay Sullivan, Sgt. Jim
Burnham, and Trooper Chris Sharpe
Attorney
General Dow also credited the Mercer County
Sheriff’s Office and members of the
U.S. DEA VEST initiative for their valuable
assistance, including the U.S. Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives,
the FBI, the U.S. Probation Service, the
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District
of New Jersey, the U.S. Marshals Service,
the New Jersey State Parole Board, the Ewing
Police Department, U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, and the New Jersey
Probation Services Division.
In
the interest of investigative security and
pursuant to established court requirements,
the Attorney General’s Office, the
Division of Criminal Justice and the other
law enforcement agencies involved are limited
in discussing specific details regarding
the indictment and the ongoing investigation.
The
indictment is merely an accusation and the
defendants are presumed innocent until proven
guilty.
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