Mercer County Man Admits Participation in Heroin Conspiracy and Firearms Offenses
TRENTON, N.J. – A Mercer County, New Jersey, man today admitted his role as a member of a drug trafficking conspiracy and his possession of multiple semiautomatic firearms in furtherance of his unlawful drug-trafficking activities, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Jubri West, 20, of Trenton, pleaded guilty by teleconference before Chief U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson to a superseding information charging him with one count each of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin; possession with intent to distribute heroin; and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.
In October 2018, West and 25 other individuals were charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute heroin; West and others also were charged with firearms offenses relating to their drug trafficking. On Feb. 27, 2020, a grand jury returned a 10-count third superseding indictment charging West and six other defendants with conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and various other drug and firearms offenses. Of the 26 defendants originally charged in the criminal complaint, West is the 22nd defendant to plead guilty. The charges in the third superseding indictment remain pending against four defendants.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From as early as October 2017 to October 2018, West and others engaged in a large drug trafficking conspiracy that operated in the areas of Martin Luther King Boulevard, Sanford Street, Middle Rose Street, Southard Street, Hoffman Avenue, Chambers Street, and Coolidge Avenue in Trenton, and which sought to profit from the distribution of heroin and numerous other controlled substances. Through the interception of telephone calls and text messages pursuant to court-authorized wiretap orders, controlled purchases of heroin, the use of confidential sources of information, and other investigative techniques, law enforcement learned that Jakir Taylor and Jerome Roberts obtained regular supplies of hundreds of “bricks” of heroin from David Antonio, whom they referred to as “Pop” and “Papi,” and that they distributed those supplies of heroin to other dealers and end users in and around Trenton.
During the investigation of the conspiracy, on Sept. 6, 2018, law enforcement officers stopped a green 2002 Volkswagen Passat driven by, and registered to, Timothy Wimbush, a/k/a “Young Money,” and occupied by West, Taquan Williams, a/k/a Trip,” and a juvenile. Law enforcement officers recovered from West’s pocket a quantity of heroin, and during a subsequent search of the vehicle, law enforcement recovered from a secret trap compartment under the rear passenger’s seat approximately 57 bricks of heroin, four semiautomatic firearms – including a .223 caliber assault rifle linked with a shooting in Trenton four days earlier – and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Law enforcement officers identified the heroin as having been supplied by other members of the conspiracy. The charges against Wimbush and Williams remain pending.
The drug conspiracy and drug distribution counts to which West pleaded guilty each carry a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison, and a maximum fine of $1 million. The firearms count to which West pleaded guilty carries a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison – which must run consecutively to any other sentence West receives – and a maximum potential penalty of life in prison. West’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 23, 2020.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, Newark Division, Trenton Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie; special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Newark Division, Trenton Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Charlie J. Patterson; officers of the Trenton Police Department, under the direction of Police Director Sheilah Coley; officers of the Princeton Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Nicholas Sutter; officers of the Ewing Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police John P. Stemler III; officers of the Burlington Township Police Department, under the direction of Police Director Bruce Painter; and detectives of the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Scott A. Coffina, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanked officers of the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Superintendent Col. Patrick J. Callahan; detectives of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Angelo Onofri; officers of the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of
Sheriff John A. Kemler; and members of the New Jersey State Board of Parole for their assistance in the investigation and prosecution of the case.
The government is represented by Attorney-in-Charge J. Brendan Day and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Ramey of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Trenton.
This case was conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and the FBI’s Greater Trenton Safe Streets Task Force, a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to enhance the identification, apprehension, and prosecution of individuals involved in gang-related activities, violent crime, and drug distribution in and around the greater Trenton area. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.
The charges and allegations pending in the third superseding indictment against the remaining defendants are merely accusations and those defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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