October 2, 2015

Two Members of Camden Drug Trafficking Organization Sentenced to Prison for Roles in Conspiracy to Distribute

CAMDEN, NJ—Two Camden men were sentenced to prison in connection with their roles as set workers in a large-scale drug trafficking organization (DTO) that distributed cocaine base, cocaine, and/or heroin, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced today.

Marqueis Thomas Randall, a/k/a “Marty,” 23, was sentenced to 100 months in prison; Elquinzie Lewis, 23, was sentenced Sept. 29, 2015, to 48 months in prison. Randall previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler in Camden federal court to a superseding information charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base and 100 grams or more of heroin, and one count of being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Lewis previously pleaded guilty before Judge Kugler to a superseding information charging him with using a communications facility to further a drug trafficking crime.

In April 2013, seven alleged members of the drug trafficking organization were charged by criminal complaint with conspiring to distribute cocaine base, cocaine, and heroin. The five remaining defendants are scheduled for trial on Jan. 11, 2016.

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

The organization controlled an area that includes the area of Eighth and Tulip Streets, a retail shopping plaza in the 700 block of Morgan Boulevard, and areas within the Crestbury Apartments public housing project, located in the 2500 block of South Eighth Street. The investigation into the organization involved physical surveillance, confidential informants, telephone wiretaps, controlled drug purchases, and record checks. In one recorded conversation from the wiretap, one of the alleged leaders told Lewis: “My thing is loyalty. You rolling with us, you got loyalty. You all right. You rolling with us that mean everybody you see got your back a hundred percent, like that’s what I mean by loyalty. It’s bigger than what’s just going on.” In addition to the prison term, Judge Kugler sentenced Randall to five years of supervised release and sentenced Lewis to one year of supervised release.

The charges and allegations against the remaining defendants are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The government is represented by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin M. Fay and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Richardson of the Camden office.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI’s South Jersey Violent Offender and Gang Task Force, Philadelphia Division, under the direction of FBI Special Agent in Charge William F. Sweeney Jr.; the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo; the Camden City Police Department, under the direction of Chief Scott Thomson; the N.J. State Police, under the direction of Col. Rick Fuentes; and the Camden Collaborative Crime Commission (C4), with the investigation leading to today’s sentencings. He also thanked the Philadelphia Police Department, the N.J. Parole Board, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the N.J. Division of Criminal Justice, the Voorhees Police Department, the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, the Salem County Prosecutor’s Office, the Camden County Sheriff’s Office, the Woodbury Police Department and the Pennsauken Police Department for their roles in the case.

This case was developed through the work of C-4. Every federal, state and local law enforcement agency and prosecutor’s office responsible for combating drug trafficking, gang activity and violent crime in Camden has come together in one location to share intelligence, develop investigative strategies and support the investigative and prosecutorial efforts of its partners. C-4 has merged the individual missions of the various law enforcement agencies into a single strategic attack on drug trafficking and drug-related violent crime. Such intense coordination greatly enhances the law enforcement community’s ability to correctly identify and successfully prosecute the most dangerous criminals in one of our nation’s most dangerous cities.

Defense counsel:
Randall: Rocco C. Cipparone Jr. Esq., Haddon Heights, New Jersey
Lewis: Stanley O. King Esq. Woodbury, New Jersey