Five Atlantic City Men Pled Guilty to a 2011 Murder

MAYS LANDING – Five Atlantic City men pled guilty today for their involvement in the murder of an Atlantic City man in 2011, Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain announced.

This morning, Monday, Dec. 22, 2014, five (5) Atlantic City men pled guilty before Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Michael A. Donio to Conspiracy to Commit Murder—a 1st degree crime—for their part in the death in November 2011 of Corleone Hayes, found fatally shot in an Atlantic City residence. The defendants are:

• Haneef Graves, 31, of the 100 block of North South Carolina Avenue, AC, 
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• Jason K. Hall, 25, of the 700 block of North New York Avenue, AC, 
• Carlos Woodall, 26, of the 1000 block or North Kentucky Avenue, AC, 
• James Clegg, 24, of the 400 block of North Maryland Avenue, AC, and 
• Hekeem Ceasar, 26, of the 1600 block of Madison Avenue, AC. 
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• On Sunday, November 20, at 8:45 p.m., during a weekend in which Atlantic City Police and the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Shooting Response Team responded to 5 separate shootings in Atlantic City—two of them homicides—authorities found Corleone Hayes, 29, in a residence on the 1300 block of Baltic Avenue, dead of multiple gunshot wounds. 
• The investigation of the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and the Atlantic County Police Department led to the arrest 48 hours later of Haneef Graves at his home. The arrest was effected without incident by a task force that also included members of the New Jersey State Police, Atlantic County Sheriff’s Department, and the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice.
  
• Graves was charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated assault with a firearm, and weapons offenses, and lodged in the Atlantic County Justice Facility in lieu of $1,000,000 full cash bail, set by Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Joseph Kane.

During the afternoon of February 22, 2012, the same multi-agency task force located and arrested the other four defendants. Ceasar was apprehended on Martin Luther King Boulevard, Clegg on North Maryland Avenue, Hall on Magellan Avenue, and Woodall on North New Jersey Avenue.

All were charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and unlawful possession of a weapon, and lodged in the Atlantic County Justice Facility on 1,000,000 full cash bail set by Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Bernard E. DeLury.

On December 13, 2012, an Atlantic County Grand Jury indicted all five on 10 criminal counts, including murder, felony murder, conspiracy, first-degree gang criminality, weapons offenses, and armed burglary. The State alleged that the five defendants forcibly entered the residence and murdered Hayes.

Today, in accordance with a plea agreement, the five men pled guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, and face 10 years of incarceration in New Jersey State prison, subject to the No Early Release Act (NERA), which mandates that the defendants must serve 85% of the sentence—or 8 years and 6 months—before becoming eligible for parole.

The defendants remain in custody at the Atlantic County Justice Facility, to be returned for sentencing, scheduled for January 30, 2015.

Chief Assistant Prosecutor John represents the State in the matter.

Anyone with information involving serious crimes is asked to call the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office at 609-909-7800 or go to the Prosecutor’s Office Web site at http://www.acpo.org/tips.html and provide information by filling out the form anonymously on the Submit a Tip page. People can also call Crime Stoppers at 609-652-1234 or 1-800-658-8477 (TIPS) or visit the Crime Stoppers Website at http://www.crimestoppersatlantic.com/. Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards for information leading to the arrest and indictment of those who commit crimes in Atlantic County.