Jersey City Gang Member Charged with Shooting

NEWARK, N.J. – An alleged member of a Jersey City gang has been charged with the June 19, 2020, shooting of a Jersey City resident, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced today.

Shamar Bey, 29, of Jersey City, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Bey is allegedly associated with a street gang known to operate around Salem Lafayette Apartments and the surrounding area from Bramhall Avenue to Forrest Street and between Ocean Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive in Jersey City. On June 19, 2020, Bey allegedly shot an associate of a rival gang with which Salem Lafayette was feuding. 

The count of assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The count of discharging a firearm during an act of violence carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of 10 years in prison.  Both counts carry a maximum fine of $250,000.

Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited investigators of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Esther Suarez; officers with the Jersey City Police Department, under the direction of Public Safety Director James Shea; and special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. in Newark, with the investigation leading to the charges. 

This investigation was conducted as part of the Jersey City Violent Crime Initiative (VCI). The VCI was formed in 2018 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Jersey City Police Department, for the sole purpose of combatting violent crime in and around Jersey City. As part of this partnership, federal, state, county, and city agencies collaborate to strategize and prioritize the prosecution of violent offenders who endanger the community. The VCI is composed of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, the ATF, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New Jersey Division, the U.S. Marshals, the Jersey City Police Department, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office, New Jersey State Parole Board, the Hudson County Jail, and the New Jersey State Police Regional Operations and Intelligence Center/Real Time Crime Center.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sophie E. Reiter of the Cybercrime Unit and Sarah Sulkowski of the Violent Crime Unit.

The charge and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.