IRS - Internal Revenue Service

06/25/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/26/2024 06:03

Gang member sentenced to seven years in prison for racketeering and firearms charges

Date: June 25, 2024

Contact: [email protected]

Newark, NJ - A member of the Rollin' 60s Neighborhood Crips gang was sentenced today to 84 months in prison for his role in a racketeering conspiracy and for possessing firearms and ammunition as a convicted felon, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Amir Warden, aka "Stamps," aka "Killa," previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to a superseding information that charged him with Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy and possession of firearms and ammunition by a convicted felon. Judge Wigenton imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

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

From 2015 through Sept. 22, 2022, Warden was a member of the Rollin' 60s Neighborhood Crips, a criminal enterprise responsible for acts of violence and the distribution of controlled substances in the District of New Jersey and elsewhere. Warden held a leadership role within the enterprise and conspired with other members and associates to distribute controlled substances. On Aug. 19, 2019, he distributed heroin. On Sept. 29, 2022, Warden, a convicted felon, knowingly possessed three loaded firearms, three high-capacity drum magazines, and approximately 1,300 rounds of assorted ammunition.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Wigenton sentenced Warden to three years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS CI), under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan; special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Ortiz; special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Ross A. Marchetti; investigators of the U.S. Marshals Service, under the direction of Marshal Juan Mattos; the Irvington Police Department, under the direction of Police Division Director Tracy Bowers; the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II; the Newark Police Department, under the direction of Public Safety Director Fritz Fragé; the Bloomfield Police Department, under the direction of Director of Public Safety Samuel A. DeMaio; the Essex County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Sheriff Armando B. Fontoura; the East Orange Police Department, under the direction of Chief Phyllis L. Bindi; the Elizabeth Police Department, under the direction of Police Director Earl J. Graves; the Edison Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Tom Bryan; the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Col. Patrick J. Callahan; the Union County Prosecutor's Office, under the direction of Prosecutor William A. Daniel; the Spotswood Police Department, under the direction of Chief Philip Corbisiero; and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Fugitive and Missing Person Task Force, which includes members of the FBI, with the investigations leading to the charges in the Rollin 60's Neighborhood Crips investigation.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multiagency approach.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francesca Liquori of the Special Prosecutions Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake Nasar of the Organized Crime/Gangs Unit.

CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.