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TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that six people were indicted
today on charges they conspired to operate
a drug ring that sold cocaine, methamphetamine
and prescription narcotics in South Jersey.
The
charges stem from a 10-month joint investigation
by the New Jersey State Police, the Division
of Criminal Justice and the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration. The investigation uncovered
a drug trafficking network that distributed
several ounces of powder cocaine per week,
as well as methamphetamine, OxyContin and
other narcotics. Five of the defendants
named in the indictment were arrested in
late January, when State Police detectives
and DEA agents made arrests and executed
search warrants in South Jersey and South
Tucson, Arizona.
According
to Director Paw, the 17-count state grand
jury indictment obtained today by the Division
of Criminal Justice charges Gary R. Maddox,
31, of Washington Township, Gloucester County,
and Jason E. McKinnon, 31, of Atco, with
the first-degree crime of leading a narcotics
trafficking network. If convicted, they
will face 25 years to life in prison on
that charge alone.
McKinnon is Maddox’s brother through
adoption.
The
two men were also charged with first-degree
racketeering, along with Maddox’s
live-in girlfriend, Lori M. Gephart, 32,
Michael Scott, 37, of Voorhees, and Gerald
Foster, 21, of Atco. That charge carries
a potential prison sentence of 10 to 20
years. All six indicted defendants, including
Charles E. Muldrow, 20, of Atco, were charged
with second-degree conspiracy to distribute
narcotics, which carries a possible prison
sentence of five to 10 years. The U.S. Attorney’s
Office in Camden is prosecuting additional
defendants arrested in January.
“These
defendants allegedly offered a smorgasbord
of illegal narcotics in South Jersey, from
crack cocaine to crystal meth to Oxycontin,”
said Attorney General Milgram. “We
have shut down their operation.”
“This
indictment illustrates the results that
can be achieved when law enforcement agencies
team up across jurisdictional lines to take
down drug traffickers,” said Director
Paw. “I commend the New Jersey State
Police, the DEA, the U.S. Attorney’s
Office and our attorneys in the Division
of Criminal Justice for their outstanding
work on this investigation.”
“We
would like to thank the Attorney General’s
Office and the Division of Criminal Justice
for their expedience in bringing forth these
indictments,” said Colonel Rick Fuentes,
Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.
“Their efforts ensure that the hard
work of the detectives involved in this
investigation leads to prompt and vigorous
prosecution.”
It
is alleged that the ring, under the leadership
of Maddox and McKinnon, obtained large quantities
of powder cocaine, typically a kilogram
at a time, which the other defendants assisted
in selling. Scott allegedly processed or
“cooked” powder cocaine into
crack cocaine at his home in Voorhees. The
indictment charges Scott with the first-degree
crime of maintaining or operating a controlled
dangerous substance production facility,
which carries a potential prison sentence
of 10 to 20 years.
It
is alleged that Maddox obtained OxyContin,
Percocet, methadone, Xanax and other narcotics
using prescriptions obtained illegally from
numerous sources, including doctors, pharmacists
and drug addicts.
The
Division of Criminal Justice is seeking
forfeiture of assets seized from the defendants
in January as proceeds of their alleged
crimes. Seven vehicles registered in the
name of Gephart were seized, including two
Lexus LS4s, two Lexus 300s and a BMW 318.
Two vehicles registered in the name of McKinnon
were seized, including a Cadillac Escalade.
The Division of Criminal Justice is also
seeking forfeiture of jewelry, high-end
electronic equipment, mink coats and other
clothing and personal property seized when
search warrants were executed at ten homes
and storage facilities in Gloucester, Camden
and Burlington counties.
Deputy
Attorney General Russell J. Curley of the
Division of Criminal Justice Gangs &
Organized Crime Bureau presented the case
to the state grand jury. He was assisted
by Deputy Attorney General Andrew Butchko,
a senior counsel with the Bureau, and the
Bureau’s Chief, Supervising Deputy
Attorney General John-Robin Quelch. They
worked with detectives from the drug trafficking
unit of the New Jersey State Police’s
Organized Crime Control South Bureau and
agents of the DEA who conducted the investigation.
The
indictment is merely accusations and the
defendants are presumed innocent until proven
guilty. The indictment was handed up to
Superior Court Judge Linda R. Feinberg in
Mercer County, who assigned the cases to
Camden County.
Charges
(counts
of indictment with potential penalties and
defendants named):
-
Racketeering, 1st degree, 10-20 years/$200,000
(Maddox, McKinnon, Gephart, Scott and
Foster)
- Conspiracy,
2nd degree, 5-10 years/$150,000
(Maddox, McKinnon, Gephart, Scott, Foster
and Muldrow)
- Leader
of Narcotics Trafficking Network, 1st
degree, 25 years-Life/$750,000 (Maddox)
-
Leader of Narcotics Trafficking Network,
1st degree, 25 years-Life/$750,000 (McKinnon)
- Possession
of Cocaine With Intent to Distribute,
1st degree, 10-20 years/$500,000 (McKinnon)
- Possession
of Cocaine With Intent to Distribute,
2nd degree, 5-10 years/$150,000 (McKinnon)
- Distribution
of Cocaine, 1st degree, 10-20 years/$200,000
(Maddox)
- Distribution
of Cocaine, 2nd degree, 5-10 years/$150,000
(Gephart)
- Distribution
of Methamphetamine, 2nd degree, 5-10
years/$150,000
(Maddox and Gephart)
- Distribution
of Cocaine, 2nd degree, 5-10 years/$150,000
(Muldrow)
- Maintaining
or Operating a Controlled Dangerous
Substance Production Facility, 1st degree,
10-20 years/$750,000 (Scott)
- Distribution
of Cocaine within 1,000 Feet of School
Property, 3rd degree, 3-5 years/$150,000
(Maddox and Muldrow)
- Possession
of Cocaine, 3rd degree, 3-5 years/$75,000
(Maddox and Gephart)
-
Money Laundering, 2nd degree, 5-10 years/$150,000
(Maddox)
- Endangering
the Welfare of a Child, 2nd degree,
5-10 years/$150,000 (Maddox)
-
Possession of Weapons (.357-caliber
pistol) During Commission of Certain
Crimes, 2nd degree, 5-10 years/$150,000
(McKinnon)
- Possession
of a Firearm (.357-caliber pistol) by
a Convicted Person, 2nd degree, 5-10
years/$150,000 (McKinnon)
>>
View
Indictment (679k pdf) plug-in
I Charges
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