NEWARK, N.J. – An Essex County, New Jersey, man was
sentenced today to 168 months in prison for his leadership role in a massive
drug distribution ring responsible for selling millions of dollars’ worth of
heroin out of a residential building near a high school in Newark, U.S.
Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Quawee Jones, a/k/a “Hatman,” 34, of Newark, previously
pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares to a superseding
information charging him with conspiracy to distribute heroin. Judge Linares
imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court
According to documents filed in the case and statements made
in court:
Jones and his co-defendants operated a heroin distribution
marketplace out of the first floor hallway of a residential building at 25
Johnson Avenue in Newark. The building is just a few doors away from the
Malcolm X. Shabazz High School and the Terrell James Park playground. The
conspiracy was led by Quawee Jones and Almalik Anderson, who, along with other
heroin dealers that worked with them, took advantage of the building’s location
on a dead-end street, making it difficult for law enforcement to infiltrate the
distribution network despite a constant stream of buyers entering the building
at all hours of the day.
“Lookouts” were paid by the defendants to alert them to any
police activity coming onto the block from the only access point on Clinton
Avenue. Police could not infiltrate the building without lookouts detecting
their presence and signaling the sellers. Members of the drug trafficking
organization also set up an escape route whereby residents were paid to keep
their doors unlocked. The dealers in the hallways would run through the
building and exit via fire escapes at the rear of the building or simply hide
within the apartments before police could apprehend them.
The drug conspiracy operated nearly 24 hours a day and was
well-known among heroin users, who came from several different counties across
New Jersey. The defendants allegedly worked in carefully planned “shifts” in
order to handle the constant flow of heroin buyers. The heroin was sold in
various “brands,” which were stamped onto the glassine envelopes that contained
the heroin, allowing buyers to identify and purchase the brands that they
preferred.
The defendants sold on average one to two kilograms of
heroin per week between January 2013 and November 2015. Based upon the
quantities sold, information from court-authorized wiretaps, and other
evidence, the profit from the heroin distribution was estimated to be between
$4 million and $7 million a year.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Linares sentenced
Jones to five years of supervised release.
All 16 defendants indicted for their roles in the heroin
distribution conspiracy, including Anderson, have been convicted.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI
and task force officers assigned to the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force, under
the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark, with the
investigation. He also thanked officers of the Newark Department of Public
Safety, under the direction of Director Anthony F. Ambrose, the Essex County
Sheriff’s Office under the direction of Armando B. Fontoura; the N.J. State
Parole Board, under the direction of Chairman Samuel J. Plumeri Jr.; and the
Orange Police Department, under Director Todd Warren, for their work on the
investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys
Jonathan M. Peck and David E. Malagold, and Senior Litigation Counsel Robert
Frazer of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.
Defense counsel: Stacy Ann Biancamano Esq. and Dan Holzapfel
Esq., Cranford, New Jersey
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