Irvington Grips Gang Member Pleads Guilty To Racketeering Charge
Saturday, January 18, 2025, 7:15 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
NEWARK, NJ.- On Friday, a 41-year-old Irvington, New Jersey, man and member of the Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Grips gang learned that he is potentially facing spending the rest of his life in federal prison after pleading guilty to his role in a racketeering conspiracy.
On Friday, January 17, 2025, Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna reported that Jason Franklin, also known as “Freak,” 41, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Susan D. Wigenton to a superseding indictment charging him with a Racketeering Corrupt Organizations Conspiracy.
According To The U.S. Attorney’s Office
According to charging information unsealed in the indictment, beginning around 2015 and lasting through September 2022, Franklin was an active member of the Irvington-based Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips, an identified criminal enterprise that was responsible for acts of violence and distribution of controlled substances throughout the Essex County, New Jersey, area and elsewhere.
Franklin was identified as having a leadership role in the enterprise and ordered other members and associates of the enterprise to carry out acts of violence.
Specifically, around March 20, 2019, in Irvington, New Jersey, Franklin ordered other members and associates of the criminal enterprise to carry out the murder of an individual in retaliation for the murder of a member of the Rollin’ 60s gang.
In early April 2021, Franklin ordered members and associates of the enterprise to retaliate against rival gang members, resulting in the April 5, 2021, attempted murder of a person who sustained serious bodily injuries as a result of being shot.
Following entering his plea allocution, Judge Wigenton accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for May 21, 2025, at which time Franklin faces up to life in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 or both. The actual term of imprisonment will be determined by a U.S. District Court Judge based on the seriousness of the offense and Franklin’s prior criminal history.
