A narcotics investigation has yielded two arrests and the seizure of a quantity of cocaine and more than $20,000 in cash, acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo and Plainfield Police Director Lisa Burgess jointly announced Friday.
Police say Jerry Ross, 42, of Dunellen, and Nicole Moody, 35, of Plainfield, are both charged with second-degree possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute and two related third-degree drug offenses. Moody is also charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child for leaving her teenage daughter alone in a home with the drugs.
An investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office’s newly formed Intelligence-Driven Prosecution Unit resulted in Ross and Moody being identified as persons distributing narcotics in the Plainfield area, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Alexander Rasi, who is prosecuting the case. At approximately 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 22, members of the Prosecutor’s Office, the Plainfield Police Division Narcotics Unit, and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, simultaneously executed search warrants at the defendants’ places of residence, which are located on the 10 block of Brokaw Boulevard in Plainfield and on the 100 block of Kline Place in Dunellen.
Recovered as a result of the search warrants were 24 grams of cocaine, $20,237 in cash, and related narcotics packaging and distribution materials. Ross and Moody were arrested without incident and lodged in the Union County Jail pending a first appearance to take place in Superior Court.
Convictions on second-degree criminal charges are commonly punishable by 5 to 10 years in state prison.
These criminal charges are mere accusations. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.