Improper instruction led to alleged gang leader’s racketeering conviction, N.J. Supreme Court rules

The New Jersey Supreme Court reversed an alleged gang leader’s conviction on promoting organized street crime Wednesday, finding lower courts improperly told jurors that charges of conspiracy to sell drugs could support the other offense.

The high court’s unanimous decision overturns a single conviction a jury meted out to Kalil Cooper, whom a jury convicted on a series of drug and other charges during a racketeering case targeting Elizabeth’s Grape Street Crips.

The seven justices found Cooper’s conviction was improper because conspiracy to distribute controlled dangerous substances is not a predicate offense for the promoting charge. In effect, the justices said, Cooper had been convicted of a crime that does not exist.

“This, we find, is a manifest injustice. Defendant’s sentence cannot be based upon a nonexistent crime.” Justice Michael Noriega wrote in the ruling.

Cooper and his attorneys argued that a trial court judge improperly told his jury the drug offense could form the basis of a conviction on promoting organized street crime. They noted the drug offense does not appear in a list of those that could underly the promoting charge.

The promoting charge is used against leaders or supervisors of organized criminal groups, and prosecutors must show beyond a reasonable doubt that a person charged with promoting organized crime conspired with others to commit a specific crime enumerated in the promoting statute.

Cooper was convicted on the promoting charge, two drug charges, and simple assault. He was sentenced to five years behind bars on the drug charges and was to serve a consecutive 10-year sentence on the promoting charge.

The high court’s decision only impacts the promoting charge, and Cooper’s sentence on the drug and assault counts remains unchanged.