Crime & Safety

Ex-Camden County Cop Sentenced For Sharing Info With Drug Dealers

Ashley Bailey and her brother-in-law, Nathan Ingram, were sentenced on Wednesday.

A former Camden County police officer and her brother-in-law have been sentenced for their roles in a large-scale drug distribution ring, Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo said.

Ashley Bailey, a former Camden County Police officer, was previously convicted of two counts of official misconduct. She was sentenced to eight years in state prison, and must serve five years of her sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

Superior Court Judge John T. Kelley also executed a Forfeiture of Employment Order which requires Bailey to forfeit her position in the Camden County Police Department. She is also forever disqualified from holding any public office in New Jersey.

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Her brother-in-law, Nathan Ingram, was convicted by the same jury on 22 counts, the most serious of which was leading a narcotics trafficking network. He was sentenced to life in prison, plus 10 years, and must serve 30 years of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

They were two of 40 people arrested as part of "Operation Southern District" in 2014.

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Bailey was accused of using her role as a police officer to access information about targets of an investigation into a drug ring that spanned Camden, Atlantic, Burlington, Gloucester and Ocean counties. She then provided that information to those suspects, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. One of the targets was her late husband, Edwin Ingram.

She was also accused of sharing information from an intelligence briefing with another target, Donyell Calm, in relation to a shooting that occurred earlier that year.

Police said the drug trafficking network supplied heroin and crack cocaine to lower-level dealers in Camden and Atlantic counties. The drugs also reached buyers in Burlington, Gloucester and Ocean counties. The months-long investigation resulted in the execution of five search warrants including three in Camden, one in Haddon Township and one in Williamstown.

This led to the seizure of three vehicles, 8,000 bags of heroin, 1,000 bags of crack cocaine, 10 pounds of marijuana, more than $11,000 cash and four firearms. One of the firearms was an automatic rifle. The total street value of the drugs was estimated at $85,000.

Investigators believed the operation engaged in drug sales valued at approximately $1.2 million annually. Calm, in his capacity as a leader of the network, sold approximately 5,000 bags of heroin and/or cocaine per week, authorities claimed.

These arrests and convictions were the result of a multi-jurisdictional investigation that involved the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, New Jersey State Police, Camden County Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation’s South Jersey Violent Offender and Gang Task Force, Philadelphia/Camden High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force (HIDTA), Camden County Sheriff’s Department, Cherry Hill Police Department, Evesham Police Department, Gloucester City Police Department, Gloucester Township Police Department, Haddon Township Police Department, Monroe Township Police Department, Pine Hill Police Department, Winslow Police Department and Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.

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