Bloods Street Gang Member Sentenced to 89 Months in Prison in Racketeering Conspiracy

NEWARK—A Passaic County man who is a member of the Bloods street gang was sentenced today to 89 months in prison for his role in a racketeering conspiracy that included violent crimes and narcotics distribution, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Michael McCloud, a/k/a “Ike Brim,” 26, of Paterson, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to one count of a second superseding Indictment filed in January 2011, which charged him with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

McCloud, a member of the Fruit Town Brims (FTB) set of the Bloods, admitted to selling crack cocaine to an undercover officer on August 30, 2006, together with two other members of the gang. McCloud also admitted to participating in two robberies in Paterson in 2006. McCloud was involved in the robbery of a dice game in Paterson, in which a co-conspirator used an AK-47 and the gang members took controlled substances, cell phones, and money. He also conspired with other FTB members to commit a robbery, also involving a gun, in retaliation for the shooting of an FTB member by a member of a rival gang.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Chesler sentenced McCloud to three years of supervised release.

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.