Crime & Safety

10 Years In Prison For Burlington Co. Cocaine Distributor: Officials

A man who pleaded guilty to his role in a Burlington County-based cocaine trafficking ring was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ — A Willingboro man who pleaded guilty to distributing and possessing both cocaine and crack cocaine was sentenced to 10 years in prison, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced Thursday.

Herbert Mays, 65, was part of a drug trafficking conspiracy that mostly included Burlington County, Sellinger said. Willingboro, Burlington City, Burlington Township, Bordentown Township, and Edgewater Park were some of the communities the drug dealers operated in, Sellinger said.

Law enforcement identified co-conspirators in Philadelphia who supplied Mays and his codefendants with "regular supplies" of cocaine that they then re-sold.

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Mays pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 280 grams of crack cocaine. Judge Zahid N. Quraishi issued his sentence Wednesday, July 20.

Codefendant Julius Thigpen, 60, of Philadelphia pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine on the same day Mays did.

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As of March, ten other members of the conspiracy had pleaded guilty and charges against eight other defendants were pending.

Sellinger said Mays will also have five years of post-release supervision.

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