DRUG CONSPIRACY: Guilty plea in Eddie Block case
A Binghamton man admitted trafficking large amounts of marijuana, sometimes carrying a gun, when he pleaded guilty Tuesday to his role in the Eddie Block gang on the city's West Side.
Aalim Shabazz, 24, faces 6½ years in federal prison when sentenced Dec. 21 by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas McAvoy in Binghamton. In court, Shabazz admitted he and other co-defendants conspired to possess and distribute some 33 pounds of marijuana between January 2014 until they were arrested in coordinated drug raids on Nov. 15.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says Shabazz also carried a .38-caliber Colt revolver during and in relation to his drug trafficking activities. He was among nine defendants who were charged in November after a 19-month investigation by local and federal law enforcement into the Eddie Block gang's drug activities, which also involved distribution of heroin around Broome County, according to court records.
DRUG GANG DETAILS: 'Eddie Block' probe took 19 months
Outlining Shabazz's role in the conspiracy Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Miroslav Lovric said marijuana was acquired by the defendant and packaged at residences on Edwards Street and Spring Forest Avenue in Binghamton. Police who executed a search warrant in November found just over 3 pounds of marijuana and a loaded revolver that had been stored there by Shabazz, according to Lovric.
Had the case against Shabazz gone to trial, Lovric said, the prosecution would have called members of the FBI and Broome County drug investigators to testify, along with cooperating witnesses. He said the prosecution also held evidence against Shabazz that included wiretap conversations and items seized from search warrants.
By accepting a plea agreement, Shabazz waived his right to a possible indictment by a federal grand jury in addition to a trial before a jury or a judge. On Tuesday, McAvoy asked Shabazz a series of procedural questions to ascertain whether the guilty plea was voluntary.
Police say Johnson City resident Izabivone Hughes, 22; along with Binghamton residents Anthony Randolph, 29; Rashawn Cauthen, 25; John Abbadessa; Theodore J. Cook, 27; Jalon T. Parker, 23; Terrill Collins, 24; and Anthony E. Boyd, 24, were also members of the Eddie Block gang.
Shabazz remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service while awaiting sentencing and is the seventh defendant in the case to plead guilty. The cases against Parker and Randolph are pending, while the others who have since pleaded guilty are awaiting sentencing dates in federal court.
A majority of the Eddie Block gang's members grew up on or near Edwards Street on Binghamton's West Side, court papers said in explaining how they derived their name.
The Eddie Block gang's members were very protective of their "turf," court papers said, and one confidential informant told police, "if you had a fight with one ... you had a fight with all of them."
Using confidential sources and undercover police, investigators made at least 56 controlled drug buys from Eddie Block gang members in Binghamton and Endicott between April 2014 and October of 2015, according to court papers.
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