A federal jury in Newark has convicted two men tied to a Bloods street gang set on every count against them, including the 2022 murder of a rival drill rapper on South Orange Avenue, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced on Friday, November 6. Tyler Shorter, 22, and Amir Canty, 23, both of Newark, were found guilty after a three-week trial, with the jury deliberating for less than a day.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey
Both men were convicted of racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering and firearms offences, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced. Shorter was a member of the Sex, Money, Murder set of the Bloods and Canty was an associate of the same set, according to documents filed in the case and statements made in court.
A gang based at Bradley Court, and a feud with GBlock
The Sex, Money, Murder set operated out of the Bradley Court Housing Complex in Newark, an area known as “Munn Block” or “M-Block,” prosecutors said. According to the evidence at trial, the set is known for drug distribution in and around its controlled territory, fraud schemes and interstate transportation of stolen property, as well as violence against numerous rival neighbourhoods and gangs. Shorter and Canty used social media and drill rap music to tout the power of Sex, Money, Murder in an effort to keep victims and rivals in fear of the gang, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The set had been involved in an escalating feud with a rival neighbourhood-based gang known as GBlock, whose members are affiliated with the Grape Street Crips and operate in the area of Goodwin Avenue in Newark. The victim in the murder was a member of the Grape Street Crips. Shorter and the victim were rival drill rappers from Newark representing their respective gangs and neighbourhoods, and prosecutors said the killing followed an exchange of threatening and disrespectful music videos and songs released by each of them.
On November 8, 2022, Shorter shot and killed the victim on South Orange Avenue in Newark, according to the evidence at trial. Canty acted as the getaway driver. The murder was part of a crime spree in which Canty and Shorter travelled to and from New York in a stolen car to attempt to steal and carjack additional luxury cars, prosecutors said, and following the murder Canty attempted to burn the stolen getaway car. The U.S. Attorney's release did not name the victim.
“Having spent my career prosecuting violent gangs, I know firsthand the devastation they inflict on our communities. These were not random acts, but calculated crimes committed in furtherance of a violent criminal enterprise. The jury's verdict holds these defendants accountable, brings justice to the victim and his family, and makes clear that gang affiliation will not shield those who commit serious crimes from facing the consequences of their actions.”
“Getting murderers off the streets of NJ communities is a priority for FBI Newark,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy, adding that the FBI Newark Safe Streets Task Force works to pursue accountability and that the verdict should show other violent gang members that “justice will find you.” Frazer credited the FBI, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Task Force under Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II and Chief Mitchell G. McGuire III, Homeland Security Investigations in Newark under Special Agent in Charge Michael S. McCarthy, the Newark Police Department under Director Emanuel Miranda, the New Jersey State Police Auto Theft Task Force under Superintendent Jeanne Hengemuhle, the Paramus Police Department under Chief Robert M. Guidetti and the Nassau County Police Department under Commissioner Patrick J. Ryder with the investigation.
Source: NJ Today
The Violent Crime Initiative behind the case
The prosecution is part of the Violent Crime Initiative in Newark, formed in August 2017 by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office and the City of Newark's Department of Public Safety to combat violent crime in and around the city. Under the initiative, federal, state, county and city agencies pool resources to prosecute violent offenders, and its members include the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration's New Jersey Division, the U.S. Marshals, the Essex County Sheriff's Office and the New Jersey State Police, among others. For readers across New Jersey — including the state's large Punjabi community in the Edison and Jersey City corridor, for whom Newark is the state's largest city and a regional hub — the verdict is the latest result from that long-running federal-local partnership against gang violence.
The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason Goldberg, chief of the Narcotics and International Trafficking Unit, George M. Barchini of the Bank Integrity, Money Laundering, and Recovery Unit, and Jessica L. Guarracino of the Organized Crime and Gangs Unit in Newark. Shorter was represented by defence counsel F.R. Chip Dunne III, and Canty by Perry Primavera and Stephen Turano, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
What happens next
Each defendant faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. Sentencing for both men is scheduled before U.S. District Judge Michael E. Farbiarz on March 30, 2027 — Shorter at 10:00 a.m. and Canty at 11:30 a.m. Because the life sentence is mandatory on the murder-in-aid-of-racketeering convictions, the March hearing is expected to formally impose the terms the verdict requires, closing a case that began with a November 2022 street killing in Newark and a multi-agency investigation that reached from Essex County to New York.