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For Immediate Release:  
For Further Information:
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September 1, 2006  
Peter Aseltine
609-292-4791

Office of The Attorney General
- Anne Milgram, Acting Attorney General
Division of Criminal Justice
- Gregory A. Paw, Director

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Division of Criminal Justice Obtains Lengthy Prison
Sentence for Top Member of Heroin Cartel

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TRENTON – Acting Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced that the Division of Criminal Justice has obtained a lengthy state prison sentence for a second leading member of a violent heroin trafficking cartel with ties to the Bloods street gang that operated out of Mercer and Essex counties.

Superior Court Judge Maryann K. Bielamowicz of Mercer County today sentenced Robert Cashwell, 34 (photo), of Elizabeth, to 10 years in state prison with 42 months of parole ineligibility. The judge also ordered Cashwell to pay a fine of $10,000. Cashwell, an alleged leader in the drug network, pleaded guilty on March 3 to a charge of first-degree distribution of heroin filed by the Division of Criminal Justice.

On August 11, Judge Bielamowicz sentenced Akeem Blue, 22, of Trenton, to 17 years in state prison with eight years of parole ineligibility. Blue, an alleged wholesaler for the heroin cartel, pleaded guilty on April 14 to a charge of possession of heroin with intent to distribute filed by the Division of Criminal Justice. Blue was sentenced to 10 years in state prison on that charge, and seven years on charges filed by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.

Cashwell and Blue were arrested on June 25, 2004 in the parking lot of a Trenton convenience store as Blue paid Cashwell roughly $43,000 in cash in exchange for 179 bricks of heroin, containing 8,950 “decks” of heroin, or about 500 grams.

The arrests of Cashwell and Blue kicked off an early morning round-up of cartel members which resulted from an investigation dubbed “Operation Golden Triangle,” coordinated by the Division of Criminal Justice with the assistance of the Trenton Police Department and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.

Operation Golden Triangle targeted the leaders of the drug cartel, along with middle managers and street-level dealers selling heroin and other illegal narcotics throughout the City of Trenton, surrounding Mercer County area and Essex County. At the time, the cartel allegedly controlled some 75 percent of the heroin trade in Trenton as well as a substantial portion of the statewide heroin trafficking market.

The arrests of Cashwell and Blue on June 25, 2004 set in motion the simultaneous execution of additional arrest and search warrants in Trenton, Newark, Irvington, East Orange, Elizabeth and Philadelphia. Ultimately, authorities seized a total of 300 bricks of heroin, a dozen illegal guns, an apartment building in East Orange, a Maserati and more than $400,000 in cash and bank assets, among other things.

The Division of Criminal Justice also charged the alleged kingpin of the drug network, Charles Hamilton, aka “Black,” 36, of Irvington, with numerous offenses including leading a narcotics trafficking network, criminal conspiracy, racketeering and distribution of heroin. Those charges are pending. The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

It is alleged that the drug cartel obtained large quantities of street-packaged heroin in the form of bricks from sources in northern New Jersey. The heroin would be processed from bricks into doses for street-level distribution in the Trenton area. It is estimated that some 20,000 doses were distributed on the streets of Trenton in any given week.

Deputy Attorney General Frank Gennaro represented the Division of Criminal Justice - Major Narcotics Bureau at today’s sentencings.

Operation Golden Triangle received major support and manpower resources from the Trenton Police Department, Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, the New Jersey Air National Guard, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Alabama Air National Guard. Additional investigative support was provided by the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office, Essex County Sheriff’s Office, Union County Prosecutor’s Office, Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, New Jersey State Police T.E.A.M.S. Unit, Ewing Police Department, the New Jersey Division of Taxation and the Division of Criminal Justice High Entry Risk Team, the Financial Crimes Bureau, and the Civil Remedies and Forfeiture Unit.

Deputy Attorneys General Dianne DiGiamber Deal and Andrew Butchko and Supervising Deputy Attorney General John Corson from the Division of Criminal Justice - Major Narcotics Bureau prepared search and arrest warrants and presented cases to the state grand jury in connection with Operation Golden Triangle. State Investigator Brian G. Kiely from the Division of Criminal Justice - Major Narcotics Bureau, coordinated the investigation.

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