Bloods Gang Member Admits Murder Plot in Aid of Racketeering
| U.S. Attorney’s Office August 16, 2011 |
NEWARK, NJ—A member of the Fruit Town and Brick City Brims set of the Bloods street gang admitted today to conspiring to murder a rival gang member in April 2009 and illegally possessing firearms, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Thomas Haskins, 26, of Jersey City, N.J., pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering and one count of possession of two firearms while a convicted felon. Haskins entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Haskins admitted that he conspired with other Fruit Town and Brick City Brims members—including Gerard Jennette, a/k/a “Swizzy,” and Samad McCallum—to kill a rival gang member, identified in court documents as “M.B.” They believed M.B. was responsible for ordering the murder of two Fruit Town and Brick City Brims members in Jersey City.
On April 27, 2009, Haskins, Jennette, and McCallum were arrested in Jersey City in a van with a loaded Kahr 9 millimeter handgun, a loaded Intratech Luger 9 millimeter semi-automatic Tec-9, and three ski masks.
Each count to which Haskins pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Haskins is currently scheduled to be sentenced on November 11, 2011.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward; law enforcement officers from the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Frank X. Schillari; the Jersey City Police Department, under the direction of Police Director Samuel Jefferson and Chief Thomas Comey; and the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Edward J. De Fazio, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melissa Jampol, Lisa Colone, and Robert Frazer of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Organized Crime/Gangs Unit in Newark.
McCallum pleaded guilty to the same charges on July 22, 2011.
As for Jennette, the charges and allegations in the Complaint against him are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Defense counsel: John Coyle Esq., Jersey City