U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick sentenced a member of the Grape Street Crips, James S. Gutierrez, 26, to 132 months of prison. The Newark man, who went by the street name “Bad News”, plead guilty to counts of racketeering and drug trafficking before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo.
Newark drug distribution activity is mainly run by rival gangs, one of which is the Grape Street Crips. They control their territory by providing their members with what they call “community guns”. When law enforcement officials raided the area, they confiscated several semi-automatic guns, a .410 caliber assault rifle, a 7.62 caliber assault rifle, and a .45 caliber semi-automatic carbine.
Gutierrez along with other distributors, dealt thousands of “clips” of crack-cocaine. Each clip is a pack of 10 doses. The original indictment form 2015 included 13 other gang members that are facing their own investigations.
After Gutierrez’s release in 11 years, he will be under supervised release for five years after.
Tags: Essex County, Gang Activity, Crack-Cocaine
