Manager Of Camden, New Jersey, Drug Trafficking Organization Sentenced To Five Years In Prison For Drug And Firearm Charges

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Camden man was sentenced today to 60 months in prison for conspiring to sell crack cocaine and possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug conspiracy operating in Camden, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Preston J. Thomas, a/k/a “Boo,” 31, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base and one count of conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Judge Simandle imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.

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

Thomas admitted that he sold, and directed others to sell, crack cocaine on and around the 1100 block of Lansdowne Avenue in Camden. Thomas also admitted that he provided crack cocaine to other members of the conspiracy, collected proceeds from the sales, and conspired with members of the conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of its drug trafficking activities.

Thomas, Jason Boyd, Joseph Boyd, Tony Wilson, Derek Stallworth, Jeffrey Whitaker, Nafeez Griffin, and Julian Dickerson were originally charged by complaint on Sept. 9, 2016 following a long-term investigation by the FBI’s South Jersey Violent Offender and Gang Task Force. Law enforcement officers seized drugs and recovered several firearms that were kept by members of the conspiracy in connection with the organization’s drug trafficking activities. Investigators also intercepted communications pursuant to court-authorized wiretaps on cellular telephones used by members of the conspiracy.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Simandle sentenced Thomas to four years of supervised release. 

Jason Boyd, Joseph Boyd, Wilson, Stallworth, Nafeez Griffin, and Julian Dickerson pleaded guilty to related drug and firearm offenses and have been sentenced to prison. Whitaker is charged in a superseding indictment with one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base. The charges against Whitaker are still pending.  

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI’s South Jersey Violent Offender and Gang Task Force, South Jersey Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Harpster in Philadelphia; the Camden County Police Department, under the direction of Chief J. Scott Thomson; the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo; and the N.J. State Police, under the direction of Acting Superintendent Col. Patrick J. Callahan, with the investigation. 

He also thanked the Camden County Sheriff’s Department, the Cherry Hill Police Department, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for their assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabriel J. Vidoni of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden. 

Defense counsel:  Maggie F. Moy Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender