TRENTON – Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that a Morris County man was sentenced to prison today for selling cocaine to an undercover detective during an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. He was convicted at trial last month.
Javin Ward, 35, of Parsippany-Troy Hills, was sentenced to five years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto in Morris County. A jury found him guilty on May 16 of second-degree charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, distribution of cocaine, and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, as well as third-degree possession of cocaine. The charges were contained in a 2011 state grand jury indictment.
Deputy Attorneys General Ray Mateo and Annmarie Taggart tried the case for the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. Deputy Attorney General Mateo represented the state at the sentencing.
The state presented testimony and evidence at the trial that between March 14 and May 21, 2011, Ward conspired to distribute cocaine with another man who acted as his supplier. During that time period, an undercover detective for the Division of Criminal Justice made seven purchases of cocaine from Ward totaling more than 3 ounces. The investigation began after detectives developed information that Ward was selling large amounts of cocaine from his home on Alba Place in Parsippany-Troy Hills. Ward was arrested and initially charged in the investigation on June 1, 2011.
Detectives Terry Shaw, Louis Renshaw and Luis Cruz conducted the investigation for the Division of Criminal Justice North Narcotics Squad. #### |