Bernard "Petey Black" Green admitted to aggravated manslaughter and racketeering.
Gangster Killer Bloods leader Bernard "Petey Black" Green during an arraignment in the Mercer County Criminal Courthouse in Trenton on June 22, 2011.
TRENTON — The “five-star general” of the Gangster Killer Bloods, who allegedly led his gang on a crime spree in the summer of 2005, pleaded guilty this afternoon to ordering a shooting that resulted in the death of an innocent bystander while she was sitting on her porch.
Bernard “Petey Black” Green accepted a plea agreement and admitted to aggravated manslaughter and racketeering. Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier told Green he had to take a plea today or face an April trial.
With today's plea, Green and 15 co-defendants have all pleaded guilty. The gang members were charged after a law enforcement investigation that included wiretaps and recorded phone calls.
Green admitted to ordering an attack that turned into a shootout among rival gang members, resulting in the death on Monmouth Street of Sharee Voorhees, a young mother and innocent bystander.
Green told gang members to target the driver of a silver Dodge Durango that was expected to be in the area of Monmouth Street on Aug 28, 2005, Deputy Attorney General Dan Bornstein said.
The gang members started shooting at the wrong car and some bullets missed the vehicle entirely, Bornstein said.
“It is not alleged Bernard Green killed Voorhees by his own hands,” Bornstein said. “But he is just as guilty as if he did.”
As part of the plea agreement, several other charges against Green — including two murder charges, conspiracy to commit murder and drug offenses — will be dropped.
Prosecutors will recommend that the court sentence Green to 26 years for the aggravated manslaughter charged, of which he will have to serve 85 percent, and another 10 years for racketeering. The sentences would run consecutively.
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