Cocaine Supplier to M.O.B. Boys Sentenced to 78 Months in Federal Prison

TRENTON, NJ—A bulk cocaine supplier to a former Camden drug-trafficking organization known as the “M.O.B. Boys” was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison today for his role in a drug conspiracy that was responsible for the distribution of multiple kilogram quantities of powder cocaine and large quantities of crack cocaine through the group’s own street-level drug sets and other Camden area drug dealers, Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr., announced.

U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson also ordered Charles Nicholson, 41, of Camden, to pay a $3,000 fine and to serve three years of supervised release upon the completion of his prison term. Nicholson has been detained since his arrest on May 7, 2006. On Dec. 11, 2007, Nicholson pleaded guilty before Judge Wolfson to a one-count Superseding Information that charged him with conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

At his plea hearing, Nicholson admitted that from January 1998 until May 2006, he agreed to sell bulk quantities of powder cocaine to the leaders of the MOB Boys, Rashad Smith, 35, of Gloucester Township, Troy Clark, 39, of Camden, Jermaine Coleman, 36, of Camden, and Trevor Smith, 36, of Berlin Township, (no relation).

On May 17, 2006, federal, state and local law enforcement authorities announced that the notorious crack and powder cocaine distribution organization had been dismantled and that the four leaders of M.O.B. Boys and 16 co-conspirators were charged in federal criminal Complaints. According to the Complaints, the drug gang was responsible for the distribution of multiple kilograms of powder and crack cocaine through both bulk distribution quantities to other drug traffickers and end user quantities sold at open air drug markets in the city.

On June 6, 2008, Judge Wolfson sentenced Rashad Smith, one of the leaders of MOB Boys, to 30 years in federal prison for his guilty plea to one-count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of powder cocaine and 50 grams or more of crack cocaine. At his plea hearing, Smith admitted that from about January 1998, until May 2006, he participated in the sale of crack cocaine. Smith stated there was an agreement between him, Clark, Coleman and Trevor Smith to sell crack cocaine on the 1200 block of Morton Street in Camden as the “Middle of the Block Boys” or the M.O.B. Boys.

Also on June 6, 2008, Judge Wolfson sentenced Rashan Williams, 27, of Camden, who was another supplier to the M.O.B. Boys of powder cocaine to 96 months in prison. Williams pleaded guilty before Judge Wolfson on Dec. 14, 2007, to two counts of using a communication facility in furtherance of a drug conspiracy.

Judge Wolfson also sentenced five additional members of the MOB Boys organization in June 2008. Two drug set managers, a stash house operator and two baggers were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 24 months to 144 months. Clark, Coleman and Trevor Smith have each pleaded guilty to drug charges and await sentencing. All other co-defendants have entered guilty pleas.

In determining the actual sentence, Judge Wolfson consulted the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant’s criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.

Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Marra credited Special Agents of the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk, Philadelphia Division, and Investigators with member agencies of the Camden HIDTA Task Force, with the ongoing investigation.

The Camden HIDTA Task Force comprises the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, Camden Police Department, Camden County Sheriff's Department, New Jersey State Police, FBI’s Philadelphia Division, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshal’s Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in Philadelphia.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Smith, of the U.S. Attorney’s Criminal Division in Camden.