Ocean County Man Sentenced To State Prison For Gang-Related Racketeering

Friday, July 18, 2025, 7:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

FREEHOLD, NJ.- A 34-year-old Jackson Township, New Jersey, man, and a leader of the known G-Shine Bloods street gang, will be spending nearly the next two decades in New Jersey State Prison after being sentenced last week for a pattern of gang-related racketeering.

     According to Monmouth County First Assistant Prosecutor Julia Alonso, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, Xavier Reed, also known as “HS,” 34 of Jackson Township, New Jersey, appeared in Monmouth County Superior Court and was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Jill G. O’Malley to 17 years in State Prison, subject to the No Early Release Act, which will require Reed to serve 85% of his custodial term before becoming eligible for parole.

According To A Statement From The Prosecutor’s Office

     According to a statement released by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, multiple investigations were launched into Reed’s criminal activity, dating as far back as the summer of 2019, which identified Reed as a high-ranking member of the G-Shine set of the Bloods, a local street gang. 

     During the investigations, Detectives learned that Reed made efforts to join forces with other local gangs to be the “Ringleader,” as he called it, of a criminal enterprise consisting of members from different gangs, including the G-Shine Bloods, as well as 47 NHC and Grape Street sets of the Crips, that would ultimately work toward a common goal of having “a lot of the power,” of the gang activity, primarily centered in the areas of Asbury Park, Neptune, and Freehold Township.

     The focus of the racketeering and criminal enterprise centered around transfers of community firearms, drug distribution activities, retributive assaults, dogfighting, and gang-related shootings that plagued the Asbury Park-Neptune area during 2020.

Gang-Related Violence: Asbury Park Fatal Shooting

     The gang-related violence included the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Christian Lahens of Asbury Park on March 23, 2020. Nahzee Z. Coger, 21, was sentenced on February 12, 2025, to 15 years in New Jersey State Prison after pleading guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter for the shooting death of Mr. Lahens.

     Reed had previously appeared in Monmouth County Superior Court and pleaded guilty before Judge O’Malley to the charge of first-degree Racketeering Conspiracy. In handing down the sentence on July 9, 2025, Judge O’Malley also ordered Reed to serve an additional five years of parole supervision upon his release from State Prison.

     Twenty-nine other codefendants previously pleaded guilty to various offenses ranging from Racketeering Conspiracy, Aggravated Manslaughter, Attempted Murder, Unlawful Possession of Firearms, Distribution of Controlled Dangerous Substances, and Dogfighting.