The Trenton Times published the following article on February 15, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Trenton gang member pleads guilty to killing rival gang member

By Jenna Pizzi/The Times of Trenton 
on February 15, 2013 at 7:56 PM, updated February 15, 2013 at 7:57 PM

TRENTON — A member of the Gangster Killer Bloods set of the Bloods street gang admitted in court today to killing a rival gangster in the summer of 2005 when gang rivalries throughout the city led to several shootings and violent acts.

Anthony “Ace” Coleman, 28, of Trenton, pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter. Coleman admitted to the retaliatory shooting where Kareem Washington, a member of the rival Nine Trey Gangsters, was shot in the neck on Ellsworth Avenue on Aug. 28, 2005. A day before, three Gangster Killer Bloods members had been wounded in a shooting on Passaic Street, prosecutors said.

Coleman was one of 14 alleged gang members named in a 74-count indictment alleging that the various gangsters had engaged in a slew of illegal activity including drug trafficking, violence, murders and attempted murders.

The gang members were charged following an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office with the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, Trenton Police Department and the New Jersey State Police called “Operation Capital City.”

Bernard “Petey Black” Green, 30, a “five-star general” of the Gangster Killer Bloods, or G-Shine, set was one of those charged in the indictment. Prosecutors said Green was directing the gang’s activities.

Green faces three counts of murder, seven counts of attempted murder and five counts of conspiracy to commit murder.

The criminal activity occurred from March to August 2005. During that time, three people were killed in one two-hour span and gang violence contributed to a record 31 homicides in the city.

With Coleman’s guilty plea, prosecutors will recommend that he be sentenced to 20 years in state prison — 17 without the possibility of parole. Coleman is scheduled to be sentenced before Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier on April 19.

The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Daniel Bornstein.

Seven members have not accepted plea agreements and may proceed to trial.

On Thursday two of Coleman’s co-defendants — Jabari Cross and Curtis Morgan — accepted plea agreements. Cross admitted to conspiracy to commit weapons offenses and conspiracy to distribute narcotics in return for a 10 year prison sentence. Morgan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit weapons offenses in return for five years in jail.