June 10, 10

NEWS / Two Members of Nine Trey Headbustas Set of Bloods, Including Top Commander on Street, Plead Guilty t

TRENTON – Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that two members of the Nine Trey Headbustas street gang in Camden, including the man who led the gang’s drug operations, have pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit a murder.

According to Director Taylor, Juan Vargas, 27, of Philadelphia, the street commander of the gang, and Dionicio Adams, 28, of Camden, pleaded guilty yesterday to first-degree conspiracy to commit murder before Superior Court Judge Samuel D. Natal in Camden County. The men admitted in court that they plotted to murder another member of the gang, Nathaniel Clay. Investigators learned of the planned shooting and arrested the men before it was carried out.

Under their plea agreements, the state will recommend that Vargas be sentenced to 13 to 15 years in state prison, and that Adams be sentenced to 10 to 12 years in state prison. Each man will be required to serve 85 percent of the sentence imposed without possibility of parole under the No Early Release Act. Deputy Attorney General Jill S. Mayer took the guilty pleas for the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. Judge Natal scheduled sentencing for the two men for July 30.

Vargas and Adams were indicted on July 8, 2008, along with the gang’s top leader, Michael Anderson, and 12 other alleged gang members. The indictment resulted from a joint investigation conducted by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice and the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Joint Camden Task Force. The Nine Trey Headbustas set, which has direct ties to Philadelphia, was dealing large quantities of heroin on Broadway Avenue and on Stevens and Benson Streets in Camden.

“As a result of this outstanding cooperative investigation, we have now taken guilty pleas from 14 defendants. That is all of the defendants who were indicted, with the single exception of the gang’s alleged leader, Michael Anderson, who is incarcerated in New Jersey State Prison in Trenton,” said Attorney General Dow. “Our prosecution of Anderson continues.”

“In plotting to gun down a fellow gang member, these two defendants exhibited the proclivity for violence that characterizes street gangs like the Nine Trey Headbustas and makes them so dangerous to our communities,” said Director Taylor. “These guilty pleas will remove these violent men from the street for a long time.”

Anderson, 37, holds the title of “Original Original Gangster (OOG)” or “Godfather” of this faction of the Bloods and allegedly exercised leadership authority from prison. Vargas was the hands-on leader of the set’s drug operations. Adams was one of three “street supervisors” for the gang. The other two, Nathaniel Clay, 32, and Hector Archival, 22, both of Camden, previously pleaded guilty to racketeering charges.

Anderson is charged with being a leader of a narcotics trafficking network, a crime that carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison, as well as conspiracy to commit murder.

Vargas, Adams and Clay were arrested on Nov. 29, 2007, as a result of the investigation. Participating agencies executed search warrants on that date which resulted in the seizure of approximately 500 bags of heroin, about 3 pounds of marijuana, approximately 2.5 ounces of crack cocaine, two handguns and roughly $10,000 in cash.

Attorney General Dow credited Sgt. Richard M. Carlin, Deputy Attorney General Jill S. Mayer and former Deputy Attorney General Christopher St. John for coordinating the investigation for the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. Deputy Attorney General Mayer presented the case to the state grand jury. Attorney General Dow also credited the following members of the HIDTA Joint Camden Task Force for conducting and assisting the investigation:

* Camden County Prosecutor’s Office
* Camden City Police Department
* Camden County Sheriffs Department
* New Jersey State Police
* U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
* Federal Bureau of Investigation
* U.S. Marshals Service
* U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Municipal Task Force Alliance
* National Guard

http://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases10/pr20100608b.html