NEW JERSEY – Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Pemberton Township Police Chief David King announced that six members of a Sunbury Village-based street gang have been charged with operating a criminal enterprise that is accused of carrying out multiple shootings – including two homicides – along with committing burglary, intimidating witnesses, possessing numerous firearms and fraudulently obtaining more than $125,000 in pandemic relief funds from the federal government.
Eight others have been charged for their role in helping the organization, known as the Gotti Boy Movement (GBM), perpetrate the COVID-related financial scam.
Those accused of running GBM were charged with Racketeering, a first-degree crime that alleges they conspired to commit violent crimes to further their criminal enterprise. They are:
- Tayron Brown, 25, of Heather Street in Pemberton Township
- Kavon Carter, 24, of Rancocas Road in Mount Holly
- Brandon Clifton, 23, of White Pine Court in Pemberton Township
- Javon Forman, 21, of Delap Court in Pemberton Township
- Kyree Weathers, 24, of Lawrence Drive in Pemberton Township
- Sylas Young, 19, of Cornell Avenue in Pemberton Township
The criminal actions identified in support of the racketeering charge began in September 2014, when shots were fired at a Pemberton Township police officer who was sitting in a cruiser in Sunbury Village. Brown and Carter are alleged to have participated in the shooting.
Clifton is waiting to be tried on murder charges for the March 2017 fatal shooting of Shaquille Williams in Sunbury Village. Clifton’s co-defendant in that case, Douglas Lewis, was found guilty in September 2021 and sentenced to 58 years in New Jersey state prison.
Weathers is awaiting trial on a 2020 firearms charge. Forman was found guilty that same year of burglary and a weapons violation, and was charged in February 2021 with possession of an assault weapon with a 40-round magazine containing armor-piercing rounds.
More recently, violent acts allegedly committed by GBM members have occurred in other communities, not just Pemberton Township.
Carter and Young have been charged in connection with the slaying of 18-year-old Yahsinn Robinson in April in Willingboro. Young was charged with Murder (First Degree), and both he and Carter were charged with Conspiracy to Commit Murder (First Degree) and Gang Criminality (First Degree).
The investigation into Robinson’s death revealed that GBM had a long-running dispute with certain residents of the Buckingham Park section of Willingboro, where Robinson lived. Robinson, a Willingboro High School student who was returning home from his part-time job when killed, was not involved in the conflict.
A week later, in the same section of Willingboro, a woman was hit in the leg and a toddler was grazed across his backside by shots fired into their home. Young has been charged with both shootings.
Carter and Young have also been indicted on firearms charges from a separate incident earlier this year, and Forman was charged in October 2021 with witness tampering for making multiple threatening phone calls from the Burlington County Jail.
“The substantial charges we have brought against these members of the Gotti Boy Movement and their associates should make clear that we will not allow anyone to engage in indiscriminate gun violence and run roughshod over innocent people in Pemberton Township or any other part of Burlington County,” Prosecutor Coffina said. “Yahsinn Robinson’s family should be celebrating Christmas with him right now instead of mourning him, and babies should never be exposed to gunfire coming into their homes. We are committed to doing everything we can to keep families safe throughout the County, and bring to justice those who put our neighborhoods at risk.”
Carter, Clifton and Weathers have also been charged with Promoting Organized Street Crime, as has Brianna Scott, 28, of White Pine Court in Pemberton Township. Scott and other defendants are alleged to be responsible for filing multiple fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications. The PPP is part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act of 2020, which is designed to provide economic assistance to small businesses that suffered a financial hardship due to the pandemic.
The investigation revealed that the scam yielded $124,996 in funds from PPP applications that were filed in the name of GBM members and their affiliates. Carter submitted an application claiming he was a barber with an annual income of more than $105,000 in 2019, even though Carter was incarcerated throughout 2019. He received a check for nearly $21,000, as did five of his associates.
Scott was additionally charged with Conspiracy to Commit Computer Criminal Activity (Second Degree). Others charged in connection with the PPP scam include:
Wanya Anderson, 25, of Jarvis Street in Pemberton Township, who was charged with Computer Crimes with the Purpose to Defraud (Second Degree), Forgery (Third Degree), Theft by Unlawful Taking (Third Degree) and False Swearing Under Oath (Fourth Degree).
Chad Boone, 30, of Grant Street in Camden, who was charged with Computer Crimes with the Purpose to Defraud (Second Degree), Forgery (Third Degree), Theft by Unlawful Taking (Third Degree) and False Swearing Under Oath (Fourth Degree).
Adam Clark, 28 of Atsion Road in Shamong, who was charged with Conspiracy, Computer Crimes with the Purpose to Defraud (Second Degree), Forgery (Third Degree), Theft by Unlawful Taking (Third Degree) and False Swearing Under Oath (Fourth Degree).
Jaquan Crawley-Pitts, 25, of Garden Street in Mount Holly, who was charged with Conspiracy to Commit Computer Crime (Second Degree), Computer Crimes with the Purpose to Defraud (Second Degree), Forgery (Third Degree), Theft by Unlawful Taking (Third Degree) and False Swearing (Fourth Degree).
Altauron Jean, 27, of Press Avenue in Pemberton Township, who was charged with Computer Crimes with the Purpose to Defraud (Second Degree), Forgery (Third Degree), Theft by Unlawful Taking (Third Degree) and False Swearing (Fourth Degree).
Shalaiyha Jean, 20, of East Lakeshore Drive in Pemberton Township, who was charged with Conspiracy to Commit Computer Crime (Second Degree), Computer Crimes with the Purpose to Defraud (Second Degree), Forgery (Third Degree), Theft by Unlawful Taking (Third Degree) and False Swearing (Fourth Degree).
Zion Powe, 22, of Ashton Street in Pemberton Township, who was charged with Conspiracy to Commit Computer Crime (Second Degree), Computer Crimes with the Purpose to Defraud (Second Degree), Forgery (Third Degree), Theft by Unlawful Taking (Third Degree) and False Swearing (Fourth Degree).
Clifton and Carter were also charged with Conspiracy to Commit Computer Crime (Second Degree), and additional charges against Carter include Computer Crimes with the Purpose to Defraud (Second Degree), Forgery (Third Degree), Theft by Unlawful Taking (Third Degree) and False Swearing Under Oath (Fourth Degree).
“This financial scheme by the defendants to obtain small business relief funds by ‘inventing’ fake businesses, phantom income and fraudulent loan applications, is merely further evidence of this group’s belief that the rules of society simply don’t apply to them,” Prosecutor Coffina said. “They are wrong, and will be held accountable.”
The cases will be prepared for presentation to a grand jury for possible indictment. The defendants will be prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutors Michael Angermeier, Jamie Hutchinson and Joseph Remy. The investigation was conducted by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, with assistance from the Pemberton Township Police Department and the Willingboro Township Police Department.
The majority of the defendants were apprehended during a December 16 sweep that involved the BCPO, Burlington County Sheriff’s Department, Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, Mercer County Special Response Team, Mount Holly Township Police Department, New Jersey Division of Taxation – Office of Criminal Investigation, New Jersey State Police, Ocean County Special Response Team, Pemberton Borough Police Department, Pemberton Township Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force, and Westampton Township Police Department.
