TRENTON - Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced that a Pennsauken man who was caught dealing PCP in Camden has pleaded guilty to a first-degree drug possession charge and faces up to 20 years in state prison.

Erik DeJesus, 28, of Pennsauken, pleaded guilty yesterday afternoon (Sept. 10) before Superior Court Judge Irvin J. Snyder to first-degree possession of PCP with intent to distribute.  DeJesus was about to go on trial when he entered the plea.  He entered an “open plea,” meaning there was no plea agreement, and he faces a sentence in the first-degree range of 10 to 20 years in state prison.  Deputy Attorney General Jill Mayer took the guilty plea for the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau.  Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 4, 2013.

“The recent horrific murders of two very young boys, both allegedly killed by assailants who smoked ‘wet’ – marijuana cigarettes laced with liquid PCP – has prompted law enforcement to implement an aggressive crackdown on distribution of PCP in Camden,” said Attorney General Chiesa. “As this plea demonstrates, we will bring the full weight of the law down on anyone caught dealing this highly dangerous drug.”

“We continue to target drug dealing in Camden, including distribution of PCP, with multi-agency investigations aimed at major narcotics networks, as well as focused investigations of individual drug dealers, as in this case,” said Director Stephen J. Taylor of the Division of Criminal Justice. “There is a consistent link between drugs and violence in our cities, but the violence we have seen recently linked to PCP is on another level altogether.”

DeJesus was arrested on March 10, 2010 by detectives of the Division of Criminal Justice.  DeJesus was making “dip sales” of liquid PCP by dipping tobacco cigarettes into vials of pure liquid PCP and selling them from a porch in the 800 block of North 4th Street in Camden.  Drug dealers also dip marijuana cigarettes into PCP, but DeJesus was using standard cigarettes.  After observing what appeared to be two sales of PCP-laced cigarettes, the detectives approached DeJesus, who was subsequently arrested and searched. The detectives seized a ziplock bag containing suspected marijuana, 13 Newport cigarettes, and four vials of pure liquid PCP. There was a total of approximately 98 grams of PCP, nearly 10 times the weight of PCP required to charge him with a first-degree narcotics offense.

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