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TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that two Morris County men were
sentenced to state prison today for possessing
more than a half-ounce of cocaine with the
intent to distribute it.
According
to Director Paw, Kevin Otero,18, of East
Orange, and Michael Zapata-Bonilla, 31 ,
of Boonton, New Jersey, were ordered by
Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto
to serve three and a half years and four
years respectively in state prison. In addition,
Zapata-Bonilla was ordered to forfeit $14,590
and a 2003 Cadillac Escalade. Both defendants
pleaded guilty on April 1 to a charge of
second-degree possession of cocaine with
intent to distribute.
The
charge resulted from an investigation by
detectives in the Division of Criminal Justice
- Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. Detectives
from the bureau executed a search warrant
on Feb. 8 at Kevin Otero’s home on
Glenwood Avenue in East Orange and recovered
more than a half-ounce of cocaine and a
BB gun. An additional search warrant at
Michael Zapata-Bonilla’s home at 61
Intervale Rd., Boonton, led to the seizure
of $14,890 in drug proceeds from a safe.
In
pleading guilty, the defendants admitted
that they intended to sell the cocaine.
Otero
also pleaded guilty to a charge of simple
assault for training his pit bull to be
aggressive and failing to call him off when
he attacked an officer during the execution
of the Feb. 8 search warrant. The officer
sustained an injury when the dog bit his
leg.
The
investigation was conducted by Division
of Criminal Justice Detectives in the Gangs/Organize
Crime Unit - North. The Parsippany and Boonton
Police Departments assisted in the investigation.
The
case was prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General
Debra Conrad, Deputy Chief of the Gangs
& Organized Crime Bureau and Deputy
Attorney General Suzanne McElwreath.
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