Date: June 23, 2025
Contact: [email protected]
Newark, NJ — A member of the Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips gang was sentenced today to 336 months in prison for his role in a racketeering conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.
Jason Franklin, a.k.a. “Freak,” (“Franklin”), previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to a superseding indictment that charged him with Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (“RICO”) conspiracy.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From at least in or around 2015 through on or about September 22, 2022, Franklin was a member of the Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips, a criminal enterprise responsible for acts of violence and the distribution of controlled substances in the District of New Jersey and elsewhere. Franklin held a leadership role within the enterprise and ordered other members and associates of the enterprise to commit several acts of violence.
Specifically, on or about March 20, 2019, in Irvington, New Jersey, Franklin ordered other members and associates of the enterprise to murder another person, in retaliation for the murder of a member and associate of the Rollin’ 60s.
In or around early April 2021, Franklin ordered other members and associates of the enterprise to retaliate against rival gang members, resulting in the April 5, 2021, attempted murder of another person, who sustained serious bodily injury as a result of being shot.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Wigenton sentenced Franklin to 3 years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Habba credited the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan, special agents of the DEA, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Ortiz, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), under the direction of Special Agent in Charge L.C. Cheeks, Jr., as well as investigators of the U.S. Marshals Service, under Marshal Juan Mattos’ direction; the Irvington Police Department, under the direction of Police Division Director Tracy Bowers, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II, the Newark Police Department, under the direction of Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda, the Bloomfield Police Department, under the direction of Director of Public Safety Samuel A. DeMaio, the Essex County Sheriff’s Office, under Sheriff Amir D. Jones’s direction, the East Orange Police Department, under the direction of Chief Phyllis L. Bindi, the Elizabeth Police Department, under the direction of Police Director Earl J. Graves, the Edison Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Tom Bryan, the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Colonel Patrick J. Callahan, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor William A. Daniel, the Spotswood Police Department, under the direction of Chief Philip Corbisiero, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Fugitive and Missing Person Task Force, which includes members of the FBI, for the investigations leading to the charges in the Rollin 60’s Neighborhood Crips investigation.
This case is part of an investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francesca Liquori of the Special Prosecutions Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake A. Nasar of the Health Care Fraud Unit.
IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.