NJ Man Admits Killing Police Informant In Newark Drug Ring: Feds

NEW JERSEY - An Essex County man admitted Wednesday to killing a witness to the drug trafficking enterprise he was involved in, federal authorities said.

Ali Hill, 29, of East Orange, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez to one count of racketeering conspiracy.

Hill was a member of a cocaine, heroin, marijuana and fentanyl drug trafficking ring in and around Newark from 2013 to 2018, according to documents filed in court. After learning that another member of the ring was cooperating with authorities in an investigation, Hill and other members planned the murder of the victim, who was fatally shot in March 2018 as he was walking his dog near a park in Bloomfield.

Although Hill was charged in 2019 with other crimes including murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, the other charges were dismissed as part of Wednesday’s plea deal.

The racketeering conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The drug ring has been tied to at least two other murders, according to NJ.com, and distributed multi-kilogram amounts of various drugs from California to New Jersey via U.S. Postal Service, private aircraft and more.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 3, 2022.