An 'Original G' gets 15 Years

The leader of the Fruit Town and Brick City Brims set of the Bloods street gang was sentenced yesterday to 188 months in prison for conspiring to distribute drugs in Paterson and Newark., U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman has announced.

Vincent Young, 42, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The act has long been used to prosecute La Cosa Nostra and other criminal organizations. 

Chesler imposed the sentence yesterday in Newark federal court.

Young is the Triple Original Gangster, or “OOOG,” of the Fruit Town Brims set of the Bloods and its subset, the Brick City Brims, and the highest member of the set in the state of New Jersey. Young was a member of the Los Angeles-based Fruit Town Brims established during the early 1970s, and was responsible for founding the gang in New Jersey.

The rules governing the Fruit Town and Brick City Brims set require members to learn and be quizzed about the history of the West Coast Bloods (known as the “69”), including Young’s life history, such as his childhood, the crimes he committed, and his violent acts against the rival Crips street gang. Failure to recite this history to the satisfaction of a ranking member could result in a junior member being physically disciplined.

Young admitted that he used several different unauthorized cell phones while in Northern State Prison in Newark to maintain and increase his position in the gang and to conspire with fellow gang members in narcotics trafficking in Newark and Paterson from 1999 to 2008. He also admitted that he directed members of the gang to sell heroin and crack cocaine and then wire him the proceeds of the transactions, as well as to purchase phone cards for the unauthorized cell phones he used while in prison. Gang members would contribute profits from narcotics sales as dues required by the gang’s leadership.

As the leader of the gang in New Jersey, Young was responsible for directing other members and associates of the Fruit Town and Brick City Brims Set, both in and out of prison, in carrying out unlawful activities in furtherance of the enterprise’s affairs – including acts involving murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, bribery, extortion, threats of violence, trafficking in controlled substances, and intimidation of witnesses.