|
TRENTON – Attorney
General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice
Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that
an East Orange man pleaded guilty today
to a first-degree drug charge, admitting
that he and a senior state corrections officer
arranged to have 22 kilograms of cocaine
transported from Texas for distribution
in New Jersey.
According to Criminal Justice
Director Taylor, Delrese Hardy, 37, of East
Orange, pleaded guilty to first-degree possession
of cocaine with intent to distribute before
Superior Court Judge John J. Coyle Jr. in
Warren County. Under the plea agreement,
Hardy faces a sentence of 15 to 20 years
in state prison, including seven to 10 years
of parole ineligibility. He is scheduled
to be sentenced on March 4.
In pleading guilty, Hardy
admitted that he was involved in a narcotics
trafficking network with
Eugene W. Braswell, 31,
of Newark, a suspended senior state corrections
officer who worked at Northern State Prison.
Charges are pending against Braswell, including
a charge of leading a narcotics trafficking
network, a first-degree offense that carries
a maximum sentence of life in prison with
25 years of parole ineligibility and a $750,000
fine.
Hardy admitted that he and
Braswell arranged to have two other men
transport 22 kilograms of cocaine to New
Jersey from Houston, Texas. Those men, Walter
S. Braden, 33, of East Orange, and Shuerod
Walton, 39, of East Orange, previously pleaded
guilty to second-degree conspiracy charges.
Each faces up to seven years in state prison.
Also today, two additional
members of the drug trafficking ring, Joseph
L. Jones, 39, of Newark, and Antwan K. Jones,
39, of Sewaren, pleaded guilty to second-degree
conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Under
their plea agreements, each man faces a
sentence of seven to eight years in prison,
including three to four years of parole
ineligibility. They are also scheduled for
sentencing on March 4.
All of the defendants were
charged in an Oct. 15, 2009 state grand
jury indictment obtained as a result of
an investigation by the New Jersey State
Police and the New Jersey Division of Criminal
Justice. Deputy Attorney General Mark Eliades,
Chief of the Division of Criminal Justice
Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau, took
the guilty pleas today. He prosecuted the
defendants with Deputy Attorney General
Jeffrey Manis.
The six defendants were
arrested in July 2008. The investigation
revealed that Braswell and Hardy supervised
the other defendants in the purchase and
inter-state transportation of large quantities
of cocaine from sources in Texas and elsewhere
outside New Jersey. The cocaine was sold
and distributed in northern New Jersey.
Braswell was suspended without
pay from his job with the Department of
Corrections after his arrest. He is free
on $500,000 bail. The charges pending against
Braswell are merely accusations, and he
is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The investigation into drug
trafficking began after Braswell was involved
in a shooting incident in August 2007 outside
his Newark home in which he shot and killed
Waliford Williams, 34. According to an investigation
by the Attorney General’s Shooting
Response Team, Williams shot at Braswell
with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, striking
Braswell in the left ankle. Braswell returned
fire with his own .40-caliber handgun, striking
Williams twice, including once in the neck.
Williams died at the scene.
The drug investigation led
to the arrest of Walton and Braden on July
12, 2008 following a motor vehicle stop
in Pohatcong Township, Warren County. Detectives
had a warrant to search the 2000 Dodge Ram
Van in which the men were traveling. They
seized approximately 22 kilograms of cocaine
which were wrapped in heat-sealed plastic
bags and hidden in the roof panels of the
vehicle. The men were returning from Houston,
Texas, with the drugs.
Members of the State Police
and Division of Criminal Justice arrested
the other four defendants on July 24, 2008.
Search warrants were executed at Braswell’s
home in Newark and Hardy’s home in
East Orange. A 2002 Cadillac Escalade and
2003 Chevrolet Van owned by Braswell were
also seized. Approximately 1 ½ kilograms
of cocaine, $13,878 in cash and drug packaging
materials were recovered in Hardy’s
home. Cash totaling $17,020 and equipment
and materials for drug packaging were found
in Braswell’s home. A Smith &
Wesson .357 revolver was found in a hidden
compartment in the Escalade.
The investigation was conducted
by Detective Sgt. Geoffrey Forker and members
of the New Jersey State Police Official
Corruption Unit working jointly with members
of the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs
& Organized Crime Bureau, North Squad,
supervised by Deputy Attorney General Mark
Eliades, Chief of the DCJ Gangs & Organized
Crime Bureau, and Deputy Attorney General
Jeffrey Manis of the DCJ Corruption Bureau.
### |
