Essex County Man Sentenced to 128 Months in Prison for Drug Distribution

NEWARK, N.J. –  An Essex County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 128 months in prison for possession of heroin with intent to distribute, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.

Shawn Alexander, 52, of Newark, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty to Count Two of an indictment, charging him with possession of heroin with intent to distribute. Judge McNulty imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

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

On Jan. 30, 2019, officers of the Newark Police Department arrested Alexander after receiving a tip that Alexander distributed and stored narcotics in the basement of an abandoned house on Lyons Avenue in Newark. At his plea hearing on Dec. 19, 2019, Alexander admitted that he possessed 42 decks of heroin with the intent to distribute them.

In addition to the prison term, Judge McNulty sentenced Alexander to three year of supervised release.

Acting U.S. Honig credited officers of the Newark Police Department, under the direction of Public Safety Director Brian O’Hara, and Task Force Officers of the U.S. Attorney‘s Office, under the direction of Supervisory Special Agent Thomas J. Mahoney, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. 

This case is part of the Newark Violent Crime Initiative (VCI). The VCI was formed in August 2017 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, and the City of Newark’s Department of Public Safety for the purpose of combatting violent crime in and around Newark. Federal, state, county, and city agencies collaborate and pool resources to prosecute violent offenders who endanger the safety of the community. The VCI is composed of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshals, the Newark Department of Public Safety, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, the Essex County Sheriff’s Office, N.J. State Parole, Union County Jail, N.J. State Police Regional Operations and Intelligence Center/Real Time Crime Center, N.J. Department of Corrections, the East Orange Police Department, and the Irvington Police Department.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracey Agnew and Senior Litigation Counsel V. Grady O’Malley Sr. of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Organized Crime/Gangs Unit.