Leader of Violent Trenton Street Gang Convicted of Murder, Racketeering and Other Crimes

Co-defendants

TRENTON – Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and the Division of Criminal Justice announced today the conviction of the leader of a violent Trenton street gang on charges including murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, racketeering, conspiracy, being a leader of organized crime and of a narcotics trafficking network, and other charges following a four-month trial.

Charles M. Willis, 33, aka “Charly Wingate,” aka “Gate,” of Willingboro, New Jersey, was found guilty on 17 of 21 counts, including his role as the leader of the “Get Money Boys” or “GMB,” a violent gang linked to multiple shootings in Trenton. GMB, under the leadership of Willis, controlled heroin distribution in the area around the Oakland Street Apartments in Trenton. Willis gave orders to lower-ranking GMB members to carry out acts of violence against rivals on behalf of the gang.

“We are committed to ending gun violence in New Jersey, and this verdict goes a long way toward that goal,” said Attorney General Davenport. “The defendant in this case presided over a dangerous gang that visited a reign of terror on the streets of Trenton. Achieving a guilty verdict in this case makes us all safer.”

“The communities impacted by Willis’ crimes deserved better, and we are so grateful to DCJ’s prosecution and investigation teams, as well as our law enforcement partners who made this outcome possible,” said DCJ Director Theresa L. Hilton.

Starting in the fall of 2019, detectives with the Division of Criminal Justice conducted a 9-month investigation into an open-air drug market operating in front of the Oakland Terrace Apartments, formerly known as the Roger Gardens Apartments, in Trenton, New Jersey.

The investigation revealed that the drug operation was run by GMB gang members under the leadership of Willis. Members conducted their drug operation 24/7, by making hand-to-hand exchanges with vehicles and pedestrians on the street right next to the apartments.

During the investigation, a wiretap call was intercepted wherein detectives overheard Willis ordering his associate to move drugs from a storage facility in Hamilton. After hearing the call, detectives raced over to the storage facility and stopped GMB member Tre Whetstone as he was driving out of the facility. Detectives searched his vehicle and recovered 130 bricks of heroin and fentanyl. Detectives also searched the storage facility which Willis had a female associate rent for him. There, detectives recovered an additional 254 bricks, totaling over 19,000 individual doses of heroin and fentanyl.

Trenton PD also conducted car stops of various members near the GMB drug set. GMB member John Colvin was arrested after he threw 150 bags of heroin and fentanyl out of the car window. GMB members Bobby Hood and Yahonatan Salter were also arrested while driving while in possession of 118 baggies of heroin and fentanyl.

The investigation also revealed that Willis was responsible for arranging and paying for the murder of Michael Barnes, an individual who previously cooperated with police and returned to Trenton after leaving the witness protection program. After being unable to locate and kill Barnes himself, Willis paid an individual $10,000 to execute Barnes. The murder occurred on December 27, 2019, by shooting Barnes six times, leaving him to die in an alley.

Months later, Willis offered to pay that same individual $15,000 to kill a witness who was scheduled to testify in an upcoming trial against a GMB member. On June 3, 2020, the individual hired by Willis opened fire on Wood Street in Trenton, after spotting the witness sitting on the stoop in front of a residence. The witness was only grazed, but gunfire struck three other victims, critically injuring two — a man who was shot in the chest, and a 12-year-old girl who was shot in the abdomen while riding bikes with her sister.

The investigation also revealed a gang feud between GMB and rival gang the Sanhican Drive Boys (“SDB”), after SDB members gave a statement to police regarding GMB members. On May 1, 2020, after months of taunting SDB members on Facebook, Willis along with four GMB members fired at least 39 rounds into a crowd near a grocery store on Sanhican Drive. Two victims were shot, along with four houses and multiple vehicles.

Willis and 19 others were charged for their roles in the GMB gang. Following a three-and-a-half-month trial against Willis, the jury returned a guilty verdict on 17 of the 21 charges.

Among the charges for which Willis was convicted were drug offenses, firearms offenses, crimes of violence, murder, attempted murder, and organized crime and racketeering offenses.

The case was tried by Assistant Attorney General Erik Daab, Deputy Attorneys General Karen Braciszewski, Jaclyn Dowd, and Daniel Bornstein, with assistance from Analyst Nathalie Kurzawa. Deputy Attorneys General Cassandra Montalto and Amie Hyde and DCJ case agent Lt. Scott Caponi also assisted with the prosecution and investigation of the case. Attorney General Davenport thanked the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office, the Shooting Response Team, the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) and NJSP Office of Forensic Sciences, the Trenton Police Department, Hamilton Police Department, New Jersey State Commission of Investigation, and the Middlesex Regional Medical Examiner’s Office.

Because the jury found Willis paid someone else to commit the December 2019 murder while also being the leader of a narcotics trafficking network, Willis is subject to a mandatory sentence of life without parole. First-degree charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder carry a sentence of 10 to 30 years in state prison. Conviction of paying someone else to commit murder while also being the leader of a narcotics trafficking network carries a sentence of mandatory life without parole. The other first-degree charges carry a sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison and fine of up to $200,000. The racketeering charge carries a period of parole ineligibility equal to 85 percent of the sentence imposed.

Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000. Possession of a weapon as a convicted felon carries a mandatory period of parole ineligibility of five years, and unlawful possession of a weapon carries a mandatory period of parole ineligibility equal to one-third to one-half of the sentence imposed or three years, whichever is greater. Third-degree crimes carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000.

Defense counsel: Jill Cohen Esq. and Alan D. Bowman Esq.

More News from Raritan

• Taste of the Day: Dirty Sodas Have Arrived at Blue Sheep Bake Shop — And They’re Anything but Subtle Located in Somerville
• Manville Arts Council Celebrates 10th Annual Art Expo The artwork will remain on display through May 29th at the Manville Library.