Operation Dead End Sentences
Gramiccioni: We struck hard blows against the gangs and crooks that plague your communities
The sentencing this week of three key players in gang activity that plagued Asbury Park for years is a warning, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said.
“More than five years ago, our Office and the Monmouth law enforcement community initiated more aggressive efforts at fighting violent crime by criminal street gangs operating in the City of Asbury Park,” Gramiccioni said. “The goal was to targe
t and prosecute the “worst of the worst” criminals who chronically terrorize the City with frequent shootings and gang violence.”
The Operation Dead End investigation, which began in the summer of 2013, netted 53 arrests in 2014, including several known members of the “Bloods” and “Crips” street gangs in Asbury, Gramiccioni said. Dozens were charged for running an organized criminal enterprise that distributed deadly drugs like heroin, crack cocaine, oxycodone, and synthetic ecstasy; robbery and theft rings; and distributing or possessing illegal firearms.
The investigation’s tag was so named because members of the criminal organizations based their headquarters out of two dead end streets – Dewitt Avenue, and a section of Jersey Street in the Washington Village Public Housing Complex.
The investigation revealed that members of the gangs conspired on numerous occasions to commit a series of armed robberies, residential burglaries, and thefts. Their enterprise included an organized shoplifting ring that had an established relationship with the owners of a local pawn shop. There were several different firearms-related offenses, including unlawfully possessing firearms, transferring guns between various members of the criminal organization, and targeting rival gang members and enemies for shootings.
The four-month-long trial before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley ended guilty verdicts for a veteran police officer, and a pair of criminal street gang members – one Blood, one Crip.
On Thursday, the head of the operation, James Fair [above right], 29, an Eighth Avenue resident, was sentenced to an 82 year prison sentence. Fair, a Bloods gang member, was convicted of conspiring to obtain and transfer guns, targeting rival street gang members, and for conspiring in the armed burglary that led to 2009 home invasion murder of Jonelle Melton in Neptune City. Three additional defendants await trial in that homicide case, officials said. As part of his sentence, Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley ordered Fair to serve a minimum period of parole ineligibility of 50 years before he can be released.
On Wednesday, City resident Haneef Walker [above right], 25, a Crips gang member, was sentenced to 47 years, with a 28 year, one month and 24 day period of parole ineligibility before he can be released.
“This prison sentence should send a strong message that we are serious about cracking down on the violence, property crimes, and drug dealing that has plagued the neighborhoods of Asbury Park and Neptune,” Gramiccioni said.
And on Tuesday, a 16-year veteran of the Asbury Park Police Department, Keith German [at right], 49, of Tinton Falls, was sentenced to 10 years without parole for for tipping off gang members and others about police activities, stalking and official misconduct.
“This is a major transgression and should be treated as such,” Judge Oxley said prior to handing down German’s sentence.
Crips gang leader Altyreek Leonard pleaded guilty to related crimes for his role, and will be sentenced in February 2018, Gramiccioni said. Dozens of other violent, gang-affiliated defendants were issued substantial jail sentences for their role and involvement in the criminal enterprise.
“Credit goes to dozens of agencies working together across Monmouth County, but the most credit is reserved for citizens in these communities that have been so adversely affected,” Gramiccioni said in a written statement. “Rest assured that, while we are far from declaring victory, we struck hard blows against the gangs and crooks that plague your communities over the past several years. We never give up. For those of you engaged in these terrible activities, consider this your warning. We’ll be watching and we’ll find you when you break the law.”
The cases were prosecuted by Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutors Matthew Bogner and Joseph Cummings. Fair was represented by Jeffrey W. Coghlan of Freehold, Walker by George Mardinly of Rumson, and German by Robert P. Ward of Brick.
[Photos courtesy of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office]
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