Member of the Bloods Street Gang Sentenced to 151 Months in Prison for Racketeering Conspiracy

NEWARK—A member of the Bloods street gang from Newark was sentenced today to 151 months in prison for a range of violent crimes and conspiring to distribute narcotics as part of a racketeering conspiracy in furtherance of the gang’s activities, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Ricky Coleman, a/k/a “Pool Stick,” a/k/a “Sticks,” 39, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to one count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act in a second superseding indictment filed against him in January 2011. Judge Chesler imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

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

Coleman, a member of the Brick City Brims (BCB)—a subset of the Fruit Town Brims (FTB) set of the Bloods—admitted that he conspired with BCB leader Altariq Gumbs, while Gumbs was in an Arizona state prison, to sell narcotics in Newark. Coleman acknowledged he sold heroin to a confidential informant on four occasions from October 2008 through March 2009. Gumbs pleaded guilty to the RICO conspiracy charge in July 2011 and is scheduled to be sentenced June 28, 2012. Coleman also conspired with another BCB member in May and June 2009 to send the proceeds of the sale of drugs to a ranking member of the FTB and BCB who was incarcerated in Newark’s Northern State Prison.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Chesler sentenced Coleman 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.