| TRENTON – Acting Attorney General Robert Lougy announced that a well-known Jamaican recording artist was sentenced to state prison today on charges including first-degree distribution of narcotics for his role in an international drug ring that used the U.S. Mail and other parcel delivery services to ship multiple kilograms of cocaine from California into New Jersey.
Andrew K. Davis, 37, of Kingston, Jamaica (formerly of Swedesboro, N.J.), a Jamaican dancehall DJ who records under the names “Flippa Mafia” and “Flippa Moggela,” was sentenced to 25 years in state prison, including 12 years of parole ineligibility, by Superior Court Judge John T. Kelley in Camden. The judge also ordered Davis to pay a $250,000 anti-money laundering profiteering penalty. A Camden County jury found Davis guilty at trial on Dec. 17, 2015 of first-degree distribution of cocaine, second-degree money laundering, and second-degree conspiracy. Davis also was charged with leading a narcotics trafficking network, but the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on that charge. He will face a new trial on that first-degree charge, which carries a sentence of life in prison, with 25 years of parole ineligibility.
Davis’ co-defendant in the trial, Marsha G. Bernard, 34, of Cherry Hill, N.J., also was convicted of first-degree distribution of cocaine, second-degree money laundering, and second-degree conspiracy. She was sentenced on Feb. 5 to 21 years in state prison, with six years of parole ineligibility.
Bernard received large shipments of cocaine in New Jersey and distributed them to other drug traffickers under the direction of Andrew Davis and his brother Kemar Davis, 25, of Hollywood, Calif. Kemar and another brother, Roger Davis, 38, of Roslyn, Pa., previously pleaded guilty in the case and were sentenced on March 4, 2016. Kemar was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with 12 years of parole ineligibility, and Roger was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with three years of parole ineligibility.
Deputy Attorney General Julia S. Glass and Deputy Attorney General Erik Daab, who is Deputy Bureau Chief, tried Andrew Davis and handled the sentencing for the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. The charges are the result of “Operation Next Day Air,” a multi-agency investigation led by the New Jersey State Police, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Division of Criminal Justice. In the course of the investigation, detectives recovered more than 26 kilograms of cocaine, worth more than $960,000, two handguns, and more than $500,000 in cash.
“Andrew Davis thought he could live the good life in Jamaica with the hundreds of thousands of dollars he and his brothers reaped by shipping cocaine from California into New Jersey,” said Acting Attorney General Lougy. “His big mistake was underestimating how far we would go with our law enforcement partners to bring them to justice and stop them from trafficking their poison into our communities.”
“Working with our state and federal partners, we put a stop shipment on the cocaine of these major drug suppliers and extended our reach across the U.S. to arrest Andrew Davis and his brother Kemar in California,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “This sentence demonstrates the power of collaboration in our fight against the criminal syndicates that profit from addiction.”
“Andrew Davis should have stuck with his music career instead of shipping cocaine, because now he'll be performing in the prison hall instead of dance halls,” said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “I am particularly proud of State Police Detective Sergeant Erik Hoffman, who was the lead case agent of this investigation, which dismantled a major, international drug trafficking ring.”
“The dismantlement of this international drug trafficking organization is a great success for law enforcement, and our communities are safer as a result of this investigation,” said Carl J. Kotowski, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New Jersey Division. “The DEA and our law enforcement partners will continue to pursue drug violators wherever the investigation leads us.”
The investigation targeted the ring’s shipment of large quantities of cocaine through parcel delivery services to New Jersey for bulk distribution to other narcotics suppliers and dealers. Andrew Davis directed drug trafficking activities of the ring from various locations in Jamaica, California and New Jersey, with the help of his brother Kemar. The investigation began in March 2011, when detectives and agents from the Camden High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force and the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office seized two packages from a mail facility in Marlton destined for receipt by Andrew Davis and Marsha Bernard. Each package contained four kilograms of cocaine.
In December 2012, Andrew and Kemar Davis traveled to Jamaica. Andrew remained in Jamaica, but he continued to control activities of the ring by directing Kemar and others. Kemar returned to the U.S. and oversaw the shipment of kilogram quantities of cocaine from California to New Jersey. Bernard and other defendants received the drugs and distributed them to dealers in New Jersey, under the direction of Andrew and Kemar Davis. The purchasers bought kilogram quantities of cocaine from the Davis organization. Bernard and Roger Davis handled the drug proceeds, sending them to Andrew Davis in Jamaica and Kemar Davis in California.
Bernard was arrested on March 15, 2013, when State Police detectives and DEA agents coordinated arrests in Operation Next Day Air to coincide with the arrival of a significant shipment of cocaine from California. Kemar Davis was arrested in Los Angeles that same day by DEA agents. Andrew Davis was arrested in Los Angeles on Sept. 16, 2013 by members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force.
Roger Davis was arrested on a warrant after the indictment was returned in this case on Jan. 10, 2014.
Detective Sgt. Erik Hoffman of the New Jersey State Police Crime Suppression South Unit was the lead case agent on the investigation. Deputy Attorneys General Glass and Daab were assisted at trial by Technical Assistant Maureen Hitchens, Analyst Nathalie Kurzawa and Services Coordinator Joseph Sine. Acting Attorney General Lougy thanked the following agencies that participated in Operation Next Day Air with the New Jersey State Police, DEA and Division of Criminal Justice: U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office, Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, Cherry Hill Police Department, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, Camden Office.
Six other defendants in Operation Next Day Air pleaded guilty and were sentenced previously to state prison sentences ranging from three years to 16 years. #### |
