NEWARK, NJ — A member of the Grape Street Crips gang was sentenced to life in prison on Dec. 5 for murder in aid of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute heroin and other drug crimes, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Khalil Stafford, aka “Stod” and “Homicide,” 35, of Newark, was previously convicted following a three-week trial before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo, who imposed the sentence Dec. 5 in Newark federal court. Stafford had been acquitted of the murder charge following a 2013 state jury trial in Essex County.
According to documents filed in this case and the evidence at trial, on June 19, 2010, during a family cookout on Garside Street in Newark, Stafford — a longtime member of the Grape Street Crips — confronted an individual about a drug debt. Stafford and several other gang members left the cookout to retrieve firearms and later returned. They fired more than a dozen shots at the person whom Stafford had originally confronted. A woman who was not involved in the dispute was standing on a nearby porch, and was shot and killed. Two other people were wounded and survived.
Stafford sold heroin and cocaine at the James Baxter Terrace housing complex from 2003 until it was demolished in 2009. After Baxter Terrace was torn down, Stafford continued to distribute heroin and cocaine at the Wynona Lipman public housing complex. In 2014, Stafford and a conspirator sold to DEA confidential informants nearly $20,000 worth of heroin in separate transactions.
Stafford was charged — along with 13 other defendants — with RICO conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, and possession with intent to distribute one kilogram of more of heroin. All 14 defendants have now been convicted.
Another 66 members and associates of the Grape Street Crips who were arrested in a coordinated takedown in May 2015 were separately charged with drug trafficking, physical assaults and witness intimidation, and all have been convicted. These individuals include:
- Corey Hamlet, aka “C-Blaze,” 41, of Newark, sentenced to life in prison;
- Kwasi Mack, aka “Welches,” 30, of Newark, sentenced to 45 years in prison and five years of supervised release;
- Tony Phillips, aka “Blue,” 28, of Newark, sentenced to life in prison;
- Ahmad Manley, aka “Fresh,” 32, of Summit, sentenced to 35 years in prison and five years of supervised release;
- Rashan Washington, aka “Shoota,” 31, of Newark, sentenced to 30 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release;
- Justin Carnegie, aka “Dew Hi,” 31, of Newark, sentenced to 25 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release;
- Ahmed Singleton, aka “Gangsta Mu,” 30, of Newark, sentenced to 19 years in prison and five years of supervised release;
- Eric Concepcion, aka “Wax,” 33, of Newark, sentenced to 18 years in prison and five years of supervised release;
- Hakeem Vanderhall, aka “Keem,” 34, of Newark, sentenced to 18 years in prison and five years of supervised release;
- Hanee Cureton, aka “City,” 34, of Springfield, sentenced to 12 years in prison and five years of supervised release; and
- James Gutierrez, aka “Bad News,” 27, of Newark, sentenced to 11 years in prison and five years of supervised release.
This case was conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force, a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
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