Angel Reyes, 46, of Camden, was sentenced to six years in state prison, including three years of parole ineligibility, by Superior Court Judge Irvin J. Snyder in Camden. He pleaded guilty on Aug. 17, 2012, to second-degree conspiracy to distribute heroin and second-degree possession of a handgun in the course of committing a drug offense. In pleading guilty, Reyes, who was indicted with 27 other alleged drug dealers in Operation Jumpstart, admitted that he conspired with other members of the narcotics network to distribute heroin on multiple occasions between 2009 and 2011. He also admitted that, when he was arrested at his home on July 25, 2011, he had a handgun under his bed, along with heroin that he intended to distribute.

Operation Jumpstart was a cooperative investigation conducted by the New Jersey State Police, Division of Criminal Justice, Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, New Jersey Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and other members of the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Joint Camden Task Force.

In a separate investigation, Jose Cartagena, 31, of Camden, was also sentenced today by Judge Snyder to six years in state prison, including three years of parole ineligibility. Cartagena pleaded guilty on Sept. 10 to second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun and third-degree distribution of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school. Cartagena was arrested on March 23, 2011, after a search warrant was executed at his home on North 27th Street in Camden, and detectives seized 55 small heat-sealed bags of cocaine and a revolver with hollow-point bullets.

Deputy Attorney General Kristen Harberg prosecuted both cases and handled the sentencing hearings for the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau.

The Dec. 12, 2011 indictment in Operation Jumpstart charged Luis Burgos, 34, the alleged ringleader, and 27 others with first-degree racketeering. Burgos was also charged with leading a narcotics trafficking network, a first-degree charge that carries a sentence of life in prison, including 25 years without parole. He allegedly had large quantities of cocaine flown from Puerto Rico to Newark, N.J, and New York on commercial flights for distribution in the Camden area. The charges against him are pending and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Operation Jumpstart was conducted by the New Jersey State Police, Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, New Jersey Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Division of Criminal Justice, and other members of the HIDTA Joint Camden Task Force, including the Camden City Police Department, Camden County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Cherry Hill Police Department, Evesham Police Department, Woodbury Police Department and Air National Guard.

Detective Anthony Zoppina and Detective Erik Hoffman led the investigation for the New Jersey State Police, and Investigator Michael Sutley led the investigation for the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.

The investigation regarding Cartagena was led by Detective Jeffrey Lorman of the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. He conducted the investigation with Sgt. Andrea Salvatini, Detective Jon Norcia, and Detective John Collins of the Division of Criminal Justice; Sgt. Benito Gonzalez of the Camden Police Department and his Tactical Narcotics Team (TNT); and Detective Christopher Clayton of New Jersey State Police.

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