May 10, 2010
Office of The Attorney General
– Paula T. Dow, Attorney General
Division of Criminal Justice
– Stephen J. Taylor, Director
Media Inquiries-
Peter Aseltine
609-292-4791
Citizen Inquiries-
609-292-4925
Camden Gang Member Sentenced to Prison for 2008 Shooting Investigated by the Camden Shoot Team
TRENTON – Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that a Bloods gang member was sentenced to state prison today in connection with an August 2008 shooting investigated by the Camden Shoot Team.
According to Director Taylor, Mark A. Young, 21, of Camden, was sentenced to five years in state prison, including four years and three months of parole ineligibility under the No Early Release Act, by Superior Court Judge Anthony Pugliese in Camden County. Young, a ranking member of the Bloods street gang who formerly lived in Trenton, pleaded guilty on March 24 to a second-degree charge of aggravated assault.
The charge was contained in a Feb. 4, 2009 Camden County grand jury indictment obtained by the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. The case was going to trial and jury selection had started before Young entered his plea. Deputy Attorney General Kristen Harberg prosecuted the case and represented the state at the sentencing hearing.
In pleading guilty, Young admitted that he shot and wounded a man whom he had known for years. The investigation by the Camden Shoot Team revealed that on Aug. 7, 2008, at approximately 12:20 a.m., the victim was sitting on the porch of a friend's house in the 100 block of North 24th Street in Camden, when Young approached him. The victim joked with Young and said something that offended him, leading to an angry exchange of words. Young drew a handgun and shot the victim three times, one round hitting the victim in the nose, one round hitting his wrist, and the third round going through the victim's calf. Young then fled the scene.
The Shoot Team was immediately dispatched to investigate the shooting. The Shoot Team in Camden is made up of detectives and investigators from the New Jersey State Police, the Camden City Police Department and the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.
Attorney General Dow credited the investigators who conducted the investigation, including Investigator Michael Dougherty of the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, who was lead detective; Sgt. John Polcyn of the Camden Police Department; Detective Carmello Villegas of the Camden Police Department; and the following members of the New Jersey State Police: Detective Sgt. Richard A. Bumbera, Detective Sgt. Laurence P. Wachter, Detective Daniel DeLucia, Detective Joseph Loschiavo, and Detective Carlos Rodriguez.
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