CAMDEN, NJ—An Atlantic City, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 156 months in prison for distributing heroin on behalf of a criminal street gang that used threats, intimidation and violence to maintain control of the illegal drug trade in Atlantic City, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Saeed Zaffa, a/k/a “Seed,” 25, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph E. Irenas to a superseding information charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and one count of possessing a firearm as a previously convicted felon. Judge Irenas imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.

According to documents filed in this and other cases and statements made in court:

Zaffa was a member of a gang known as “Dirty Block,” a/k/a “Crime Fam,” “3.6.6.12,” or “3.6,” which operated in a geographic area of Atlantic City that includes the public housing apartment complexes of Stanley Holmes Village Public Housing Complex, Renaissance Plaza and Schoolhouse Apartments.

From October 2010 through February 2013, Zaffa received heroin from Mykal Derry, 34, of Atlantic City, one of the gang’s leaders, and distributed the drugs to other conspirators throughout Atlantic City. Zaffa, a previously convicted felon, was also found in possession of a .40 caliber handgun when he was stopped by Atlantic County police officers on March 11, 2013.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Irenas sentenced Zaffa to serve 10 years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI’s Newark Division, Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel; the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor James P. McClain; the Atlantic City Police Department, under the direction of Chief Henry White; and the South Jersey Safe Streets Violent Incident and Gang (Safe Streets) Task Force, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.

He also thanked the N.J. State Police; the Atlantic County Sheriff’s Office; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Northfield Police Department; the Vineland Police Department; the Brigantine Police Department; the Millville Police Department; the Mullica Township Police Department; the South Jersey Transportation Authority; and the U.S. Secret Service for their contributions.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick Askin and Justin Danilewitz of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Camden and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Edmund Burgos of the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office.