California Man Admits Methamphetamine Trafficking Charge

CAMDEN, N.J. – A California man today admitted his role in a narcotics conspiracy involving approximately 1.9 kilograms of a substance containing methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Aaron Joseph, 41, of Los Angeles, California, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Renee Marie Bumb in Camden federal court to an information charging conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From October 2020 through July 2022, Joseph participated in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Joseph shipped packages from California to conspirators in Camden County, New Jersey. Joseph’s conspirators then distributed the methamphetamine in southern New Jersey. Joseph received payment via Cash App from a conspirator for the shipments. On Feb. 14, 2022, Joseph shipped a package containing 5,100 pills from California to New Jersey. The pills contained methamphetamine and weighed approximately 1.9 kilograms.

The count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 3, 2024.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy in Newark; special agents of Homeland Security Investigations Newark, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker; and postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Christopher A. Nielsen, Philadelphia Division, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph McFarlane of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Camden.