Blog Archives
Cocaine and marijuana seized during traffic stop in Warren Township
Darnell Williams and Eric Villalona both of York, Pa., have been charged with first-degree possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, third-degree possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of drug paraphernalia after a traffic stop in Warren township led to the alleged discovery of about $24,000 in cocaine and marijuana in the car.
Police pulled over the men for tailgating and when they approached the vehicle, police allegedly observed marijuana on the lap of Villalona. Ok great, you can arrest Villalona for that and if everything else checks out, Williams is free to leave. Here’s the odd thing about this. Police call for a K-9 and the dog alerts to more drugs. But how do they know that the dog is not smelling the same drugs that they already found on Villalona. The dog apparently hit on the trunk and so they searched it and found the rest.
This is an interesting case and at least one of these guys has a good defense. If the car belongs to neither man, then they both have a great defense. We have a case along these lines in the office right now; actually a few of them. While not a slam dunk case, there is a good shot to win them as there is for this case.
Story is here.
5 arrested in Green Brook drug bust
Five people have been arrested after an investigation by the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force and Green Brook township police. Raphael Salermo, 21, of Warren; Alfred Stephens, 21, of Plainfield; Nyesha Mills, 20, of Plainfield; Carl Mattos, 21, of Green Brook; and Jonathan Alvarez, 22, of Green Brook have beenn charged with various drug offenses.
The first arrest started with a stop of Mattos’ car even though there is no indication as to why he was stopped. After a search of his car allegeldy revealed drugs in the car, the police obtained a warrant and searched two rooms at the Ivory Motel in addition to a car that pulled up to the Motel room while the search was underway.
This will be tough for all of the defendants because Somerset County is a tough place to practice. Many of our cases wind up going to trial. Story is here.
3 arrested for allegedly trying to sell pot to undercover cop
Nicholas F. Monteaperto of New Brunswick, Jason Cable of Somerset, and Earl Bowers of Somerset were arrested in Hackensack, New Jersey while attempting to allegedly distribute two pounds of suspected marijuana to an undercover detective for $13,000.00. How three people can all attempt to sell the same two pounds of pot is unknown.
This was a result of a joint investigation conducted by the Hackensack Police Department and members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotic Task Force. It was probably going on for a while, but these guys don’t seem like your average dealers. Normally, police make a couple actual buys. To bust them at the first buy makes me think that the police didn’t expect them to sell again.
Story is here.
Tonacchio, Spina & Compitello 