Egg Harbor City Man Sentenced to Eight Years for Heroin, Gun Trafficking

An Egg Harbor City man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for guns and narcotics crimes committed in the City for 10 months in 2013 and 2014, Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain announced on Friday.

Ernest Collier, 19, was sentenced to serve eight years in state prison on or crimes involving guns and drug distribution, and eluding police, committed on four separate occasions between July 2013 and May 2014. Collier was 18 years old at the time of the crimes.

Collier pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon, eluding police and distribution of heroin as part of a plea deal on July 25. They are all second-degree crimes.

He must serve four years and three months before becoming eligible for parole. The sentence includes three years of parole supervision upon release from prison.

He was among nine defendants, including Steven Martinez, 19, of Egg Harbor City, who were charged with heroin trafficking on Dec. 18 following the search of two units in the Philadelphia Housing Complex at 1000 Buffalo Avenue.

The search, conducted by members of the Prosecutor’s Office Guns, Gangs and Narcotics Unit, the Atlantic County SWAT Team and the Egg Harbor City, Galloway Township and Pleasantville Police Departments, was part of a seven-month long joint narcotics investigation.

Authorities seized over $10,000 worth of heroin, multiple firearms, ammunition, cash and a two-way radio communications system.

Prior to the execution of the search warrants, Collier and Martinez were observed by detectives arranging and conducting heroin transactions on eight separate occasions.

On Dec. 24, Collier was charged with unlawful possession and sale of a stolen handgun as the result of a separate investigation, which included law enforcement surveillance of the transaction.

After release from custody on bail, Collier was charged on March 11 by Egg Harbor City Police with eluding police and several motor vehicle violations, for creating a risk of death or injury to other drivers and pedestrians by his reckless actions on Philadelphia Avenue. Those actions included driving in the lane of oncoming traffic, forcing a vehicle off the roadway.

On May 16, released from custody on bail, Collier was arrested for aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a handgun, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose for shooting at two people who were inside a motor vehicle on Cincinnati Avenue.