NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Two members of the Sex, Money, Murder (SMM) street gang that operates in Newark were charged by criminal complaint with murder in aid of racketeering Thursday, New Jersey DA Philip R. Sellinger announced.
The charged gang members are Tyler Shorter, aka “Money Bags” or “Bags,” 19, and Amir Canty, aka “Blast,” 20.
Both Shorter and Canty are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, murder in aid of racketeering and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, Sellinger said.
If convicted Shorter and Canty face a mandatory sentence of life in prison and a potential capital punishment, the district attorney’s office said.
The SMM street gang operates out of the Bradley Court Housing Complex – or M-Blok – and is known for drug distribution, fraud and interstate transportation of stolen goods, according to documents filed in this case and statements made in court.
SMM has engaged in violent rivalries with other neighborhoods and gangs, and Shorter and Canty have used social media and rap music to emphasize SMM’s power in order to intimidate said rivals, court assets showed.
Shorter allegedly shot and killed the murder victim, Nyshon Anthony, on Nov. 8, 2022, on South Orange Avenue in Newark with Canty as an accomplice.
Anthony was a rival rapper who represented his respective gang, GBlock, which is affiliated with the Grape Street Crips and operates in the Goodwin Avenue area of Newark.
SMM and GBlock were engaged in an escalating feud, and it is alleged that Shorter and Canty murdered Anthony following an exchange of threatening and disrespectful raps and music videos, according to court assets.
The case will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jason Goldberg of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Unit in Newark.