Lakewood Man Gets 7 Years For Fentanyl, Weapons Charges

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Lakewood man has been sentenced to seven years in prison in a fentanyl distribution case, the Ocean County prosecutor's office said Monday.

Sherod A. Coleman, 35, of Lakewood, was sentenced Friday to seven years with 42 months (3-1/2 years) of parole ineligibility for his guilty plea to a charge of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Superior Court Judge Michael T. Collins also sentenced Coleman to five years in prison with no parole eligibility for being a certain person not to have weapons. The sentences will run concurrently, Billhimer said. Coleman pleaded guilty to both on Sept. 16, 2019.

Coleman was arrested Sept. 2, 2016, following a motor vehicle stop in Lakewood as the result of an ongoing investigation by the prosecutor's Narcotics Strike Force into illegal drug activity in the area. Coleman was found to be in possession a significant amount of fentanyl as well as a handgun with a high-capacity magazine.

Billhimer thanked Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Burke, along with the Narcotics Strike Force, Lakewood Police Street Crimes Unit, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit.

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