Bloods Leader Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy

NEWARK, NJ—The leader of the Brick City Brims set of the Bloods street gang admitted today to conspiring to distribute narcotics and to bribe a member of the gang to keep her from cooperating with a law enforcement investigation as part of a racketeering conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Altariq Gumbs, a/k/a “Killer Reek,” a/k/a “Reek,” a/k/a “Jersey,” a/k/a “Sankofa,” 33, pleaded guilty to one count of a second superseding Indictment filed against him in January 2011, which charged him with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Gumbs 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:

Gumbs, the Double Original Gangster, or “OOG,” of the Brick City Brims, a subset of the Fruit Town Brims (“FTB”) set of the Bloods, admitted that he used an unauthorized cell phone while in an Arizona state prison to maintain his position in the gang and direct fellow gang members in a narcotics conspiracy in Newark and Jersey City, N.J., from October through December 2008. Gumbs admitted that he directed members of the gang to sell heroin and then wire to him or his associates the proceeds of the transactions, including to prison commissary accounts in Arizona.

Gumbs also admitted that he was responsible for conspiring to bribe “M.J,” a member of the Paterson FTB, with continued membership in the gang to compel her to recant a statement that she made to the Paterson Police Department regarding a homicide. As part of the conspiracy, Gumbs also ordered “M.J.,” to be physically assaulted for speaking with law enforcement, which was a violation of the gang’s rules.

The racketeering conspiracy count to which Gumbs pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Gumbs is currently scheduled to be sentenced on October 19, 2011.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward—which includes members from the Newark Police Department, East Orange Police Department, Essex County Department of Corrections, Hudson County Sheriff’s Office, 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, with the investigation leading to the charges.

He also thanked the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Carolyn Murray; and the Special Operations Division’s National Gang Targeting, Enforcement and Coordination Center, under the direction of Director John Sieder, for their important roles.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melissa L. Jampol, Lisa Colone, and Robert Frazer of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Organized Crime/Gangs Unit in Newark.

Defense counsel: Thomas Ambrosio Esq., Lyndhurst, N.J.