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| For
Immediate Release: |
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For
Further Information Contact:
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| December
23, 2003 |
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| Office
of The Attorney General
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Peter C. Harvey,
Attorney General
Division of Criminal Justice
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Vaughn L. McKoy, Director
Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
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Greta Gooden Brown,
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor |
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John
R. Hagerty
(609) 984-1936
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| Division
of Criminal Justice Wraps-up Prosecution
of 18th Street Gang... Drive-by Shootings
Result in Long-term Prison Sentences...
Statewide
“Gangs, Guns & Drugs” Initiative
Continues to Target Gang Activity
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TRENTON
— Attorney General Peter C. Harvey
and Vaughn L. McKoy, Director, Division
of Criminal Justice, announced that the
prosecutions targeting the so-called 18th
Street Gang operating in New Brunswick
have resulted in significant state prison
sentences against the three gang members
charged with the drive-by shooting and
attempted murder of rival La Mugre street
gang members/associates. The last of the
18th Street gang members involved in the
drive-by shootings was sentenced to 12
years in state prison on Dec. 22.
“This
prosecution serves notice to gangs everywhere
in New Jersey that the Division of Criminal
Justice, in concert with statewide law
enforcement, is committed to identifying,
investigating, arresting, prosecuting
and jailing gang members who threaten
the public safety,” said Attorney
General Harvey. “Gangs and gang-related
activity, including shootings and selling
drugs to finance illegal operations, remain
a number-one priority. Gangs are not welcome
and will not be allowed to operate in
New Jersey.”
According to Criminal Justice Director
McKoy, the prosecutions involving the
18th Street gang members were coordinated
by Deputy Attorney General Christopher
Matthews of the Organized Crime &
Racketeering Bureau. The defendants, charged
via State Grand Jury indictments returned
on Aug. 19, 2002, included:
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Antonio
“Grenas” Pena, 23, former
address of 93 Welton St., New Brunswick.
Pena was identified as a leader and
“shooter”involved in a New
Brunswick-area drive-by shooting. Pena
pled guilty to a charge of first degree
attempted murder on Oct. 16, 2003, before
Middlesex County Superior Court Judge
Jane Bruskin Cantor. Pena was sentenced
to 12 years in state prison on Dec.
22;
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Miguel
“Smookey” Huerta, 22, former
address of 22 Rutgers St., New Brunswick.
Huerta was also identified as a “shooter”
involved in a New Brunswick-area drive-by
shooting. Huerta pled guilty to a charge
of aggravated assault (2nd degree) before
Middlesex County Superior Court Judge
Frederick P. DeVesa on Sept. 22. Huerta
was sentenced to seven years in state
prison;
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Angel
“Scorpion” Juarez, 25, former
address of 197 New St., New Brunswick.
Juarez, identified as the individual
who supplied the weapon used in the
drive-by shootings, pled guilty to unlawful
possession of a weapon and possession
of a controlled dangerous substance
(cocaine) on May 9 before Judge DeVesa.
Juarez was sentenced on Oct. 23 to five
years in state prison; and
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Augustina
Vazquez-Gonzalez, 24, 197 New St., New
Brunswick (girlfriend to Angel Juarez).
Vazquez-Gonzalez was charged with possession
of a controlled dangerous substance
and was admitted into the court-supervised
Pre-Trial Intervention Program.
McKoy noted that the defendants were charged
via separate State Grand Jury indictments
after concluding investigations which
targeted two separate drive-by shootings
that took place in late 2001 and early
2002 in New Brunswick. The drive-by shootings
involved members of the 18th Street gang
shooting at members and/or associates
of the rival La Mugre street gang.
The investigation, coordinated by the
New Jersey State Police Street Gang Unit,
determined that the first shooting took
place in the early morning hours of Nov.
23, 2001, outside the Corona Bar. As a
result of the shooting, Franco Amador,
an associate to members of the La Mugre
street gang, was wounded in the right
thigh. The second shooting occurred during
the early morning hours of Feb. 17, 2002,
with the wounding of Juan Cuevas (a.k.a.
Gerardo Guerrero), also a member of the
La Mugre street gang. The confrontation
and shooting took place when members of
the 18th Street gang broke a window in
a vehicle Cuevas was driving on Jersey
Avenue in New Brunswick. A vehicle chase
followed. As the vehicles passed each
other side-by-side, several shots were
fired into Cuevas’ vehicle. As a
result, Cuevas suffered a gunshot wound
in the back.
Charges contained in the State Grand Jury
indictments determined that the .380 caliber
hand gun used in both the Amador and Cuevas
shootings was supplied to the shooters
by fellow 18th Street gang member Angel
Juarez. As a result of information developed
by the investigation, a search of Juarez’s
New Street residence was conducted on
March 4, 2002. The search recovered 13
rounds of .380 ammunition and more than
three grams of cocaine. As a result of
the search, Juarez and his girlfriend,
Vazquez-Gonzalez, were charged with possession
of a controlled dangerous substance.
The investigation was conducted by Det.
Matthew Joyce of the New Jersey State
Police Street Gang Unit and prosecuted
by Deputy Attorney General Chris Matthews
of the Division of Criminal Justice -
Organized Crime and Racketeering Bureau.
Additional information is available via
the Division of Criminal Justice Web Page
located at www.njdcj.org.
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