Bloods Gang Member Admits To Racketeering Conspiracy Plea Calls For 22-Year Prison Sentence
NEWARK, N.J. - - Carl J. Kotowski, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division, and William E. Fitzpatrick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey announced a solider of the Sex Money Murder set of the Bloods street gang today admitted his role in a racketeering conspiracy that involved attempted murder and conspiracy to distribute heroin.
Laquan Reed, 27, aka “Drama,” of Montclair, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court to Count Two of a 14-count superseding indictment charging him with racketeering conspiracy.
The Bloods street gang is organized into subgroups, called “sets,” that operate in specific geographic locations. Sex Money Murder is the set that operates primarily in Essex County, New Jersey. Reed, a ranking member in Sex Money Murder, admitted that from 2007 to 2011 he committed a series of violent crimes to advance the gang’s objectives. He admitted that he conspired with set members to murder a rival gang member on Aug. 3, 2011, identified in the indictment as “Victim 6.” Reed admitted he and others engaged in a shootout in an effort to kill the rival gang member in and around Newark. Reed also admitted conspiring to distribute more than one kilogram of heroin in and around Newark.
The plea agreement requires Reed to be sentenced to 22 years in prison and five years of supervised release. Sentencing is scheduled for July 10, 2017.
