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TRENTON
–Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that David “Duke”
Allen, the leader of the Nine Trey Gangsters
set of the Bloods in New Jersey, was sentenced
today to an additional seven years in prison
for directing criminal activities of the
gang from Trenton State Prison.
According
to Director Taylor, Allen was sentenced
by Superior Court Judge Edward M. Neafsey
to seven years in prison, which must be
served consecutively to the murder sentence
he is now serving. Allen pleaded guilty
on June 25 to second-degree racketeering,
an amended count of a June 7, 2007 indictment
stemming from “Operation Nine Connect,”
a joint investigation by the New Jersey
State Police and the Division of Criminal
Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau.
Allen,
36, previously was sentenced to 30 years
to life in prison on March 29, 2001, following
his conviction at trial of murder and murder
conspiracy in the 1997 gang-related shooting
of Terrence Hines in Newark. He was prosecuted
in that case by the Essex County Prosecutor’s
Office. In pleading guilty to the new charge,
Allen admitted he is “Original Gangster”
and top leader of the Nine Trey Gangsters
in New Jersey. He admitted he directed criminal
activities of the gang from Trenton State
Prison, including drug dealing and extortion
of several business owners in Newark.
The
investigation revealed that Allen was directing
the activities of the gang with the assistance
of fellow inmate and Bloods member Tahaij
Wells. Allen placed telephone calls from
prison to his subordinates in the gang through
another defendant, Ebony Myers. Myers pleaded
guilty to racketeering and was sentenced
to 10 years in prison on Oct. 27, 2008.
Wells also pleaded guilty to racketeering
and is awaiting sentencing. The state will
ask for a six-year prison term for Wells.
The
Division of Criminal Justice has taken guilty
pleas from 52 of the 59 indicted defendants
in Operation Nine Connect, resulting in
sentences between five and 16 years in state
prison. One gang leader, Michael Smart,
was tried in January 2009, convicted and
sentenced to 70 years in prison, including
40 years without possibility of parole.
Supervising
Deputy Attorney General Andrew Butchko represented
the state at the sentencing. Deputy Attorney
General John Corson Jr. took the guilty
plea from Allen. The Division of Criminal
Justice and New Jersey State Police were
assisted in Operation Nine Connect by numerous
other local, county, state and federal law
enforcement agencies.
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