A Long Valley New Jersey man was recently sentenced on federal charges of distributing methamphetamine in Arkansas.

According to authorities, the 51-year-old defendant committed the drug offenses while living in Morris County, NJ. Federal prosecutors believe that he was an out-of-state distributor of methamphetamine in Arkansas.

Law enforcement, including the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), started an investigation after learning of a drug trafficking ring in the southwest part of Arkansas.

DEA agents eventually set up an undercover sting operation that resulted in the arrest of the defendant. According to officials, undercover agents set up a meeting with the defendant and arranged to meet him in Arkansas. The defendant then traveled from New Jersey to Arkansas so that he could pick up a half-pound of methamphetamine.

When the defendant showed up for the meeting, undercover DEA agents gave him a shrink-wrapped block of counterfeit methamphetamine. In exchange for the counterfeit drugs, the defendant handed the agents two signed business account checks.

Sometime later, an Arkansas state trooper stopped the defendant’s pickup truck and arrested him. Police reportedly located the counterfeit drugs in a red sleeping bag in the backseat of the vehicle.

The suspect later pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

At a recent sentencing hearing in a federal court, the defendant was sentenced to 4 years in federal prison. Moreover, the defendant will have to undergo 3 years of supervised release after he finishes his prison term.

 

For additional information about this case, read the NJ.com article entitled “N.J. Man Nabbed in Undercover Sting Gets Federal Prison Time for Drug Charge.”