'Ruthless' Brick City Brims Druglord From Montclair Convicted Of Three Murders, More

Michael Healy, 43, of Montclair, "ruthlessly ordered murders so that he could protect his narcotics operation and continue to sell large quantities of dangerous [drugs],” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said after federal jurors in Newark returned their verdicts on Wednesday, April 3.

Healy "recruited men to kill someone he thought was an informant, and even when they killed the wrong person – a bystander – he ordered them to kill his target," Sellinger said. "He personally pulled the trigger on another victim."

Jurors convicted Healy of racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, conspiring to murder a federal witness, three counts of murder in aid of racketeering and related firearms offenses following a four-week trial.

"He now faces multiple mandatory life sentences for his crimes," Sellinger said.

Three underlings all took plea deals, admitting last summer that they gunned down the informant after killing an innocent bystander they mistook for the snitch.

SEE: 3 Brick City Brims Get 100 Years Combined For Murdering Informant, Bystander, Rival Gangster

Healy took his chances with a jury and lost big.

After discovering a stool pigeon in the crew, Healy ordered the trio to kill him, Sellinger said.

They went to the target's Bloomfield home in February 2018 but shot the wrong man, the U.S. attorney said. 

Healy ordered them to get it right, and the following month they shot the real informant at close range, killing him, as he walked his dog.

A month after that, on April 6, 2018, Healy shot and killed another man whom he also thought "might also pose a risk to the enterprise," Sellinger said.

There was a lot to protect, the U.S. attorney said.

Healy became a Blood while serving a nine-year prison sentence in Maryland, federal authorities said.

Following his release in 2012, he "formed and led a large and sophisticated drug distribution organization that obtained, transported and distributed large amounts of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and marijuana," Sellinger said.

The operation "transported multi-kilogram quantities of controlled substances from California to New Jersey by various means, including private aircraft, vehicles with hidden secret compartments, and the U.S. Postal Service," the U.S. attorney said.

The drugs were then processed and repackaged at various stash houses in the state, he said.

Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, the Essex and Union county prosecutor's offices, police from Newark, East Orange and Montclair, and the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and the Ohio State Highway Patrol with the investigation leading to Healy's conviction, secured by Senior Trial Counsel Robert L. Frazer and Assistant U.S. Attorney Samantha C. Fasanello.

"As this case demonstrates, my office will use every tool available to prosecute violent crime and ensure that those who endanger the community will face lengthy jail sentences," Sellinger said.

U.S. District Judge Michael E. Farbiarz scheduled sentencing for Oct. 1.

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