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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced
that a Montclair man was sentenced to state
prison today for distributing 7 pounds of
marijuana to an undercover New Jersey State
Police detective.
According
to Director Paw, Joseph Faranda, 56, of
Montclair, was sentenced to seven years
in state prison, with 3 ½ years of
parole ineligibility, by Superior Court
Judge John B. Dangler in Morris County.
Faranda pleaded guilty on Jan. 2 to second-degree
distribution of marijuana.
The
charge was contained in a state grand jury
indictment obtained by the Division of Criminal
Justice - Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau
on July 5, 2007. The indictment stemmed
from an undercover investigation by the
New Jersey State Police Drug Trafficking
Central Unit.
Deputy
Attorney General Mark Ondris represented
the state at sentencing. The case was prosecuted
by Deputy Attorney General Daniel Bornstein,
who presented the case to the state grand
jury and took the guilty plea from Faranda
for the Division of Criminal Justice - Gangs
& Organized Crime Bureau.
The
State Police began investigating Faranda
in September 2003 after receiving information
that he was dealing large quantities of
marijuana. Faranda lived in Lincoln Park
at the time. As part of the investigation,
an undercover detective arranged to purchase
marijuana from Faranda.
Faranda
was arrested on Nov. 12, 2003, at his home
on Orchard Avenue in Lincoln Park. He had
offered to sell the undercover detective
6 pounds of marijuana for $2,100 per pound.
When the detective went to Faranda’s
home, Faranda showed him seven one-pound
bags of marijuana and agreed to sell them
for a total of $14,700. Faranda was arrested
after delivering the marijuana to the detective’s
truck. State Police detectives subsequently
searched Faranda’s home and found
additional bags of marijuana.
In
pleading guilty on Jan. 2 before Superior
Court Judge John J. Harper, Faranda admitted
that he distributed the marijuana to the
detective at his home.
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