Member Of Drug Trafficking Organization Admits Conspiring To Sell Heroin

TRENTON, N.J. – A Toms River, New Jersey, man today admitted distributing heroin and cocaine as part of a large-scale drug trafficking organization that operated in Monmouth, Ocean, and Middlesex counties, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Delovi R. Canales, a/k/a “Butter,” 48, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with one count of conspiring to distribute heroin.

In October 2014, 20 other alleged members of the drug trafficking organization of which Canales was a member were charged by criminal complaint with conspiring to distribute heroin. The complaint referred to the drug trafficking organization as the “Cadet DTO,” after one of its leaders, Herve Cadet, a/k/a “Gotti,” a/k/a “Bro,” 29, of Neptune and Sayreville, New Jersey.

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

From November 2013 through October 2014, Cadet, Eric Smith, a/k/a “EV,” a/k/a “E,” 42, of Manchester, New Jersey, and the other members of Cadet DTO, including Canales, conspired to sell illegal drugs – chiefly heroin – in Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex counties. Through the use of confidential informants, authorized interception of cell phone calls and other means, law enforcement learned Cadet and Smith were responsible for identifying sources of heroin supply and oversaw distributors and other conspirators who sold, packaged and stored the drugs. Members used stash houses, spoke in code and used Haitian Creole to avoid detection by law enforcement.

The narcotics conspiracy charge to which Canales pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and $1 million fine. Sentencing is scheduled for June 27, 2015.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the DEA, Newark Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Carl J. Kotowski and officers of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Fabiana Pierre-Louis of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.

Defense Counsel:  David R. Oakley Esq., Princeton, New Jersey