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Press Release
Press Release
CAMDEN, N.J. – A Camden man was sentenced today to 36 months in prison for conspiring to distribute and selling oxycodone pills, including high 60 and 80 mg. dose pills, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Erick Bell, 49, of Camden, previously pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb to an information charging him with conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone and distributing and possessing with intent to distribute quantities of oxycodone. Judge Bumb imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Bell admitted that on multiple occasions from January 2020 to March 2020, he worked as a middleman, connecting sellers who were diverting their own prescriptions and others with pill dealers, including Rocco DePoder of Gloucester City, New Jersey and others, to put oxycodone on the streets in and around Camden and Gloucester City. Bell admitted that on Feb. 3, 2020, he obtained 160 80 mg. oxycodone pills from a conspirator and sold DePoder 60 of the pills for $25 each and 100 of the pills to another conspirator for $24 each. Oxycodone is a Schedule II controlled substance – meaning that it has a high potential for abuse, a currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions, and abuse of the drug may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence.
DePoder was sentenced by Judge Bumb on Oct. 8, 2021, to 70 months in prison for his role in the scheme.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Bumb sentenced Bell to three years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of FBI Philadelphia Division, South Jersey Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert; the Camden County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Sheriff Gilbert L. Wilson; the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, under the direction of Director Laurie R. Doran; the Camden County Police Department, under the direction of Chief Gabriel Rodriguez; and the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Bethanne M. Dinkins, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.
He also thanked the FBI Newark Division, New Jersey State Police, Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for their assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara F. Merin of the Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.