Bloods Leader Arrested for Conspiring to Distribute Heroin While Incarcerated

NEWARK, NJ—The leader of the Brick City Brims set of the Bloods street gang was charged in a complaint unsealed today with conspiring, on unauthorized cell phone calls from prison, to distribute heroin, United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Altariq Gumbs, a/k/a “Killer Reek,” a/k/a “Reek,” a/k/a “Jersey,” a/k/a “Sankofa,” 32, was arrested on Saturday, April 24 by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation as he was scheduled to be released on parole for a conviction on New Jersey state charges. The defendant was detained following an initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Claire C. Cecchi in Newark federal court.

According to the complaint:

Gumbs, the Double Original Gangster (“OOG”) of the Brick City Brims (“BCB”), a subset of the Fruit Town Brims (“FTB”) set of the Bloods, used an unauthorized cellular telephone from an Arizona state prison to direct fellow gang members in a narcotics conspiracy in Newark, New Jersey from November through December 2008.

The Complaint charges the defendant with conspiring and agreeing with others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a quantity of heroin. If convicted of the charge, Gumbs faces a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

In determining an actual sentence, the judge to which the case is assigned would consult the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant’s criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining the sentence. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force, under the Direction of Special Agent in Charge Ward, which includes members from the Newark Police Department, the East Orange Police Department, the Essex County Department of Corrections, the Hudson County Sheriff's Office, the Jersey City Police Department, the New Jersey Division of Parole, and the Paterson Police Department, along with the New Jersey Department of Corrections, Special Investigations Division.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa L. Jampol, of the U.S. Attorney’s Criminal Division in Newark.

The charge and allegations in the complaint against Gumbs are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.