NEWARK, N.J. – A member of the
Grape Street Crips gang was sentenced today to life in prison for murder in aid
of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute heroin, and
other drug crimes, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Khalil Stafford, a/k/a “Stod,”
a/k/a “Homicide,” 35, of Newark, was previously convicted following a
three-week trial before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo, who imposed the
sentence today in Newark federal court. Stafford had been acquitted of the
murder charge following a 2013 state jury trial in Essex County.
According to documents filed in
this case and the evidence at trial:
On June 19, 2010, during a family
cookout on Garside Street in Newark, Stafford – a long-time member of the Grape
Street Crips – confronted an individual about a drug debt. Stafford and several
other gang-members left the cookout to retrieve firearms and later returned.
They fired more than a dozen shots at the person whom Stafford originally
confronted. A woman who was not involved in the dispute was standing on a
nearby porch, and was shot and killed. Two other people were wounded and
survived.
Stafford sold heroin and cocaine
at the James Baxter Terrace housing complex from 2003 until it was demolished
in 2009. After Baxter Terrace was torn down, Stafford continued to distribute
heroin and cocaine at the Wynona Lipman public housing complex. In 2014,
Stafford and a conspirator sold to DEA confidential informants nearly $20,000
worth of heroin in separate transactions.
Stafford was charged – along with
13 other defendants –with RICO conspiracy, murder in aid racketeering,
conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, and possession with
intent to distribute one kilogram of more of heroin. All 14 defendants have now
been convicted.
Another 66 members and associates
of the Grape Street Crips who were arrested in a coordinated takedown in May
2015 were separately charged with drug-trafficking, physical assaults, and
witness intimidation, and all have been convicted. These individuals include:
• Corey Hamlet, a/k/a “C-Blaze,”
41, of Newark, sentenced to life in prison;
• Kwasi Mack, a/k/a “Welches,”
30, of Newark, sentenced to 45 years in prison and five years’ supervised
release;
• Tony Phillips, a/k/a “Blue,”
28, of Newark, sentenced to life in prison;
• Ahmad Manley, a/k/a “Fresh,”
32, of Summit, New Jersey, sentenced to 35 years in prison and five years’
supervised release;
• Rashan Washington, a/k/a
“Shoota,” 31, of Newark, sentenced to 30 years in prison and ten years’
supervised release;
• Justin Carnegie, a/k/a “Dew
Hi,” 31, of Newark, sentenced to 25 years in prison and ten years’ supervised
release;
• Ahmed Singleton, a/k/a “Gangsta
Mu,” 30, of Newark, sentenced to 19 years in prison and five years’ supervised
release;
• Eric Concepcion, a/k/a “Wax,”
33, of Newark, sentenced to 18 years in prison and five years’ supervised
release;
• Hakeem Vanderhall, a/k/a
“Keem,” 34, of Newark, sentenced to 18 years in prison and five years’
supervised release;
• Hanee Cureton, a/k/a “City,”
34, of Springfield, New Jersey, sentenced to 12 years in prison and five years’
supervised release; and
• James Gutierrez, a/k/a “Bad
News,” 27, of Newark, sentenced to 11 years in prison and five years’
supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited
special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge
Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark, special agents of the DEA, under the direction of
Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson, and special agents of the U.S.
Attorney’s Office with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. He also
thanked the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting
Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II, police officers and detectives of the
Newark Police Department, under the direction of Public Safety Director Anthony
F. Ambrose, and the Essex County Sherriff’s Office, under the direction of
Sheriff Armando B. Fontoura, for their assistance with the investigation.
The government is represented by
Assistant U.S. Attorney Osmar J. Benvenuto, Chief of the Organized Crime and
Gangs Unit within the Criminal Division in Newark, and Assistant U.S. Attorney
Richard J. Ramsay of the Appeals Division in Newark.
This case was conducted under the
auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and the
FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force, a partnership between federal, state and local
law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to
identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons
trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible
for the nation’s illegal drug supply.
Defense counsel: John McMahon
Esq., West Orange, New Jersey
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