By: Richard L. Smith
A federal judge sentenced Leevander Wade, 44, of East Orange to 440 months in prison for his involvement in three murders carried out to further a large-scale narcotics operation.
The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Michael E. Farbiarz on August 1, 2024, in Newark federal court, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.
Wade had pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy on February 22, 2024.
His conviction is the result of a detailed investigation into a drug trafficking enterprise led by Michael Healy, which utilized the East Orange Bloods to enforce its operations.
According to court documents and evidence presented during the trial, the series of events began in February 2018.
Healy discovered that a member of his drug trafficking enterprise was cooperating with law enforcement.
He ordered members of the Bloods in East Orange to eliminate the informant, identified in the indictment as “A.S.”
At that time, Wade was a manager within the enterprise, overseeing multiple “stash” houses in Essex County where heroin and fentanyl were packaged for street-level distribution.
Wade, who maintained a close relationship with one of the Bloods' leaders, assisted Healy in contracting the gang to carry out the murder.
On February 3, 2018, members of the East Orange Bloods mistakenly shot and killed a bystander, believing he was the informant.
The bystander had been parked outside the informant's residence in Bloomfield, New Jersey, in a vehicle resembling the informant's car.
Realizing their mistake, Healy ordered the Bloods to complete the mission.
On March 12, 2018, the conspirators killed the informant while he was walking his dog near his home in Bloomfield.
The violence continued on April 6, 2018, when Healy, fearing another member of the enterprise, identified as “J.C.,” might also betray them, shot and killed J.C. in Newark.
Wade drove Healy to and from the murder scene and later hired someone to burn the vehicle to destroy evidence.
In addition to his prison term, Judge Farbiarz sentenced Wade to five years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $6,223 in restitution.
This case stresses the severe impact of gang violence and narcotics trafficking on the community and focuses on the commitment of law enforcement to bring those responsible to justice.