Man Sentenced For Dealing Drugs, Stealing Gun In Barnegat

BARNEGAT, NJ — A Barnegat man will spend the next decade in New Jersey State Prison after two separate incidents where he dealt drugs and stole a gun, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

Quaison Ellis, 25, was sentenced to 10 years for possession of more than one half ounce but less than five ounces of heroin with intent to distribute in connection with an incident that occurred in Barnegat on Sept. 10, 2021.

Additionally, Ellis was sentenced to 10 years for possession of more than one half ounce but less than five ounces of cocaine with intent to distribute, five years with a five year period of parole ineligibility for being a certain person not to possess a firearm, and three years burglary, all in connection with an incident that also occurred in Barnegat on Dec. 9, 2022.

These sentences are all to run concurrently, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

In the first incident, officers were watching a house on Hawthorne Lane in Barnegat as part of a narcotics investigation, Billhimer said.

Ellis was seen leaving the house and getting into the front passenger seat of a car, Billhimer said. Detectives followed the car all the way to Paterson, where they saw Ellis meeting with a man, he said. After a few minutes, Ellis returned to the car, put a bag in the trunk and then headed back down to Barnegat, Billhimer said.

Officers stopped the car, and the unnamed driver consented to a search, revealing about 1,550 wax folds of heroin, Billhimer said. Ellis was taken into custody at Ocean County Jail, but released due to bail reform.

Then, on Dec. 9, 2022, during another narcotics investigation, authorities conducted a court-authorized search warrant on the same Hawthorne Lane house, Billhimer said.
As a result, detectives seized "quantities" of heroin and cocaine, along with a Keltec .32 caliber firearm, Billhimer said.

That gun had been stolen from a car in Stafford on Sept. 29, 2022, resulting in an additional burglary charge for Ellis, Billhimer said.

He was again taken into custody and then again released due to bail reform.