Nine arrested in illegal North Jersey gun and drug operation

Charlie Dwyer

NEWARK, N.J. – The Department of Justice has charged nine from North Jersey with various gun and drug charges stemming from a shooting that took place in the Penning Court housing complex in Newark.

The DOJ said Gilbert Bermudez, aka “Troub,” 29; Brian Elijah Mitchell, aka “Slash,” 32; Jaahan Mitchell, 32; Keith Rogers, aka “Dog,” aka “Z,” 45; Isaiah Bullock, 26; Jennifer Rivera, 41; and Shamika Richardson, 25, all of Newark; Mark Washington, 58, of Irvington, New Jersey; and Torell Brown, 46, of Orangeburg, South Carolina were indicted on various drug and weapons charges last month.

“On May 14, 2021, in the vicinity of the Pennington Court housing complex in Newark, Bermudez, Brian Mitchell, and Jaahan Mitchell were involved in a shooting. On May 20, 2021, the firearm that Bermudez used in that shooting was recovered from his Essex County residence, loaded with seven rounds of 9mm ammunition,” the DOJ said in a statement. “From April 2021 through May 18, 2021, Brown, a convicted felon, conspired to unlawfully sell firearms. He trafficked six firearms and a large quantity of ammunition from South Carolina to New Jersey, with the intent to sell these weapons to at least one New Jersey resident. On May 18, 2021, Washington attempted to thwart law enforcement from recovering certain of these firearms.”

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The Department of Justice said in the spring of 2021, the three men imported illegal guns into New Jersey in an effort to sell them in North Jersey.


“From March 2021 through May 18, 2021, Brown also conspired with Brian Mitchell and Rogers to traffic firearms and ammunition into New Jersey from at least one other state and to use those firearms and ammunition in connection with at least one other felony offense,” the DOJ said in a statement. “From October 2020 through July 23, 2021, Rogers, Bullock, Rivera, and Richardson conspired to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, 100 grams or more of heroin, and a quantity of cocaine base. Rogers and Bullock, both convicted felons, possessed firearms. The four defendants maintained two Pennington Court residences for the purpose of unlawfully manufacturing, storing, distributing, and using a controlled substance, and possessed with the intent to distribute controlled substances.”


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