Two Senior Members of Stephen Crane Village Drug Trafficking Organization Sentenced (DOJ)

NEWARK, N.J. - On January 13 and January 14, 2026, the last two defendants in the Stephen Crane Village drug trafficking case - the enforcer who murdered one of their own and the main drug supplier - were sentenced to 540- and 211-months' imprisonment, respectively, for their roles in the organization, Senior Counsel Philip Lamparello announced.

In January 2025, following a three-week trial before U.S. District Court Judge Julien X. Neals in Newark federal court, Michael Mayse, 39, and Gary Shahid, 67, both of Newark, were convicted of drug trafficking conspiracy and related drug and firearms offenses. Mayse was also convicted of murder in relation to the drug trafficking conspiracy.

"These sentences hold accountable two senior members of a violent drug trafficking organization that ruled Stephen Crane Village through fear, violence, and murder. They deliver justice for the family of a young man whose life was senselessly taken and underscore this Office's commitment to attacking violent crime wherever it exists. We will continue to protect the people of New Jersey by aggressively pursuing violent criminals and removing them from our streets."

- Senior Counsel Philip Lamparello

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial:

Stephen Crane Village is a public housing complex near Branch Brook Park, on the border of Newark, New Jersey and Belleville, New Jersey. Stephen Crane Village was the site of an open-air drug market controlled by a violent drug trafficking organization (DTO) from at least February 2019 through February 2020.

Through numerous controlled drug purchases, recorded telephone calls and text messages, physical surveillance, electronic surveillance, and analysis of telephone call detail records, law enforcement determined that the members of the DTO conspired to distribute narcotics, including heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine base, at Stephen Crane Village.

The DTO used a stash apartment to package and store drugs for distribution. The DTO sold significant quantities of drugs to confidential sources and an undercover agent. In the early morning of December 15, 2019, Mayse entered the DTO's stash apartment and murdered a 21-year-old member of the DTO over a drug debt.

On January 13, 2026, the Court sentenced Shahid to 151 months' imprisonment for the drug trafficking conspiracy and drug trafficking offenses, to run concurrent to 60 months for his possession of a firearm as a previously convicted felon, and consecutive to an additional 60 months' imprisonment for his possession of a firearm in furtherance of his drug trafficking, for a cumulative sentence of 211 months in prison.

On January 14, 2026, the Court sentenced Mayse to 480 months' imprisonment for the drug trafficking conspiracy and the murder, to run concurrent to 240 months for his distribution and possession with intent to distribute drugs, to run concurrent to 120 months for his possession of two firearms as a previously convicted felon, and consecutive to an additional 60 months' imprisonment for his possession of another firearm in furtherance of his drug trafficking, for a cumulative sentence of 540 months in prison.

Co-defendants Jose Lora, Dayquan Jordan, Ricky Terrell, Charles Mells, Raquan Rawls, Nasir Williams, Quadir Hatcher, Tyree Purkett, James Wicker, and Dayana Valderrama - all members or associates of the DTO - all previously pleaded guilty in federal court to crimes related to their respective roles.

Special Counsel Lamparello credited special agents and task force officers with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Newark Field Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge L.C. Cheeks, Jr.; special agents and task force officers of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Towanda R. Thorne-James; the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II and Chief Mitchell G. McGuire; the Newark Police Department, under the direction of Director Emanuel Miranda; and the Belleville Police Department, under the direction of Chief Mark Minichini. He also thanked the U.S. Marshals Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their assistance with this case.

The investigation was conducted as part of the Newark Violent Crime Initiative (VCI). The Newark VCI was formed in August 2017 by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, and the City of Newark's Department of Public Safety for the sole purpose of combatting violent crime in and around Newark. As part of this partnership, federal, state, county, and city agencies collaborate and pool resources to prosecute violent offenders who endanger the safety of the community. The VCI is composed of the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI, the ATF, the DEA, the DHS/HSI, the USMS, the Newark Department of Public Safety, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, the Essex County Sheriff's Office, New Jersey State Parole, Union County Jail, New Jersey State Police Regional Operations and Intelligence Center/Real Time Crime Center, New Jersey Department of Corrections, the East Orange Police Department, and the Irvington Police Department.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracey Agnew of the Criminal Division in Trenton and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Goldberg, Chief of the Narcotics and International Trafficking Unit in Newark.

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Defense counsel:

Thomas Ambrosio, Esq., for Gary Shahid

Joel Silberman, Esq., and Keith Oliver, Esq., for Michael Mayse