Former Leader of "Sex, Money, Murder" Street Gang in Jersey City Sentenced to 18 Years in Federal Prison

NEWARK – The jailed leader or “Five Star General” of the Bloods “Sex, Money, Murder - 252” street gang was sentenced today to 18 years in prison for running a racketeering enterprise that controlled parts of Jersey City through murder conspiracy, attempted murder, assault and witness intimidation, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Tommy Terrell Thompson, 32, formerly of Jersey City but in custody since his arrest in February 2004, pleaded guilty on July 6, 2005, to a three-count Superseding Information, admitting that he directed other members and associates of the Sex, Money, Murder set to commit acts of murder and assault and took part in one of the assaults himself.

U.S. District Judge William G. Bassler fined Thompson $5,000.

Also today, Judge Bassler sentenced Sex, Money, Murder member Damon Devlin, a/k/a “Black,” to eight years in prison for utilizing a telephone to facilitate a conspiracy to distribute drugs with Thompson.

At the sentencing today, Assistant U.S. Attorney Karl H. Buch described the attempted murder, directed by Thompson, of a wheelchair-bound man on a Jersey City street corner on Dec. 23, 2003. Thompson mistakenly believed the victim, whom Buch identified only as W.A., was cooperating with law enforcement against Thompson and other gang members.

Thompson, who went by various street names including “Rel,” “Omega Red,” and “Big Homey,” and his accomplice, Charlie Hvasta, donned masks and approached W.A., according to Buch. Hvasta shot W.A. at point-blank range in the face and attempted to flee, but Thompson then directed Hvasta to “finish him.” Hvasta turned back and fired three more rounds, including a second bullet in the face and one in the shoulder. The third bullet struck someone who was pushing W.A.’s wheelchair. Both W.A. and the other wounded individual survived.

“Obviously, the streets of Jersey City are safer without such a remorseless, ruthless individual roaming them,” said Christie. “Thompson and his cohorts are just the sort of menace we had in mind when we set out to eradicate the Sex, Money, Murder set.”

At his guilty plea, Thompson also admitted ordering the assault of a female member of the gang because of his belief that she was associating with members of the rival Crips street gang.

Hvasta, a/k/a “Buck,” pleaded guilty on Nov. 5, 2004 in connection with the shooting of W.A. Hvasta pleaded guilty to attempted murder in aid of racketeering and illegal possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon. Hvasta faces up to 10 years in federal prison on each charge when he is sentenced (His sentencing is not currently scheduled).

Eleven other members of the Sex, Money, Murder were charged with various offenses, including attempted murder in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, and drug conspiracy charges. All of those gang members have entered into plea agreements with the government, and will be sentenced over the next two weeks. They remain in federal custody.

The Sex, Money, Murder set of the west coast Bloods gang first established itself in the Bronx, New York in the mid-1990s in the area of the Soundview Housing projects, according to the Indictment. They spread elsewhere, and in about the summer of 2002, Thompson and others established the set in Jersey City by recruiting existing Bloods gang members and new members.

The Superseding Information describes the Sex, Money, Murder set in Jersey City as an organized, hierarchal enterprise. Thompson and members of his set – with their traditional gang colors, hand and verbal codes and other established protocol – intimidated and assaulted non-obedient set members and rivals to instill fear and consolidate power and territory for drug trafficking. Sex, Money, Murder, and Bloods gangs generally and by tradition, are in constant rivalry with Crips gang members and single them out for assault, robbery and murder.

Thompson and members of his Sex, Money, Murder set maintained an area of drug trafficking territory by shooting or threatening to shoot non-members who sold drugs in the area without permission, according to the Information. This allowed Sex, Money, Murder members to have unfettered access to lucrative drug locations in which to sell heroin and cocaine.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Leslie Wiser, Jr. of the FBI Newark Division; Sheriff Joseph Cassidy and Detective John Luzzi of the Hudson County Sheriff’s Department, Assistant Prosecutor Gene Rubino and investigators with the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Edward DeFazio, for their invaluable assistance in the prosecution of Thompson, as well as the other Bloods members.