Drug Ring Leader From Montclair Sentenced For 3 Murders: Feds

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Three murders. Four life terms. That was the prison sentence for a Montclair resident who ran a drug ring in Essex County and was behind slayings in Bloomfield and Newark, federal prosecutors say.

On Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that Michael Healy, 44, of Montclair, was sentenced to four life terms for ordering and committing three murders and his involvement in a “large-scale narcotics enterprise.”

According to prosecutors, Healy – a member of the Tree Top PIRU set of the Bloods street gang in Maryland – formed and led a drug distribution organization in Newark in 2012. The ring obtained, transported and distributed large amounts of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and marijuana.

Healy used his leadership status in the Tree Top PIRU Bloods to assist him with obtaining suppliers, recruiting and controlling enterprise members, prosecutors said.

The ring transported multi-kilogram quantities of controlled substances from California to New Jersey using private aircraft, vehicles with hidden secret compartments and the U.S. Postal Service. The ring then processed and repackaged the controlled substances at various “stash houses” in New Jersey, distributing some of the controlled substances in New Jersey – including through gang members in East Orange, prosecutors alleged.

In February 2018, Healy allegedly found out that one of his conspirators in the drug trafficking enterprise was providing law enforcement officers with information.

Here’s what happened next, prosecutors said:

“Healy ordered members of the Bloods in East Orange to kill the informant, referenced in the indictment as ‘A.S.’ On Feb. 3, 2018, outside the informant’s residence in Bloomfield, Healy’s conspirators shot and killed a bystander, referenced in the indictment as ‘Victim-1,’ believing the bystander was the informant. Realizing they killed the wrong person, Healy ordered the Bloods to finish the job, and on March 12, 2018, in Bloomfield, the conspirators killed the informant while he was walking his dog in the area of his residence. On April 6, 2018, believing that another member of the enterprise – identified in the indictment as ‘J.C.’ – might also pose a risk to the enterprise, Healy himself shot and killed ‘J.C.’ in Newark.”

Last week, Healy was sentenced for his role in the slayings and drug ring. According to prosecutors, the court sentenced Healy to four life sentences plus 360 months’ imprisonment. On counts one (Racketeering Conspiracy), six (Murder of a Federal Witness), and twelve (Drug Trafficking Conspiracy), Healy was sentenced to life in prison, each term ordered to run concurrent to each other and consecutive to the prison sentences imposed on the remaining counts. On counts two (Murder in Aid of Racketeering for the murder of Victim-1), five (Murder in Aid of Racketeering for the murder of A.S.), and nine (Murder in Aid of Racketeering for the murder of J.C.), the court imposed life sentences on each count to run consecutively. On counts three, seven and 10 (each charging Discharge of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence), the court imposed consecutive 10-year sentences for a total of 360 months, ordered to run consecutively to the sentences imposed on all other counts.

Prosecutors noted that Thomas Zimmerman, Tyquan Daniels, and Ali Hill – all members of the Brick City Brims subset of the Bloods street gang in East Orange – previously pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy for their respective roles in the murders of Victim-1 and A.S. Zimmerman was sentenced to a 37-year term of imprisonment; Daniels was sentenced to a 35-year term of imprisonment; and Hill was sentenced to a 25-year term of imprisonment. In addition, in February 2024, Leevander Wade pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy for his roles in all three murders, and was sentenced to a term of 36 years and 8 months imprisonment.

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