Manchester Man Pleads Guilty To Cocaine Distribution

MANCHESTER, NJ — A Manchester Township man has pleaded guilty to cocaine distribution in connection with a March arrest where authorities seized 260 grams of cocaine and 400 doses of heroin from his car and home, the Ocean County prosecutor's office announced.

Darnell Williams, 35, of Manchester, pleaded guilty to a count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute in a quantity greater than 5 ounces before Superior Court Judge Rochelle Gizinski, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend a sentence of 12 years in prison with six years of parole ineligibility.

Williams was arrested March 18, 2019, after detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force and members of the Manchester Township Police Department pulled over his car in the area of Route 571 and Route 70 in Manchester. At the same time, a no-knock search warrant was executed at his home by detectives from the prosecutor's office, members of the Ocean County Regional SWAT Team, officers from the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit and Manchester police.

Authorities seized about 260 grams of cocaine, about 400 doses of heroin/fentanyl, 20 grams of "crack" cocaine, and about $5,400 in cash.

As part of his plea agreement, Williams also pleaded guilty to charges in three unrelated cases:

• Theft by deception and fraudulent use of a credit card; a sentence of three years will be recommended;
• Distribution of cocaine, a three-year sentence will be recommended;
• Operating a motor vehicle during a period of license suspension for a secord or subsequent DUI, with an 18-month sentence recommendation.

All of the sentences are to run concurrently, Billhimer said.

Billhimer praised the law enforcement personnel and Assistant Prosecutors Stephen Burke, Katelyn Burke and Ashley Angelo for their work.

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