A Union County man today was sentenced to 120 months in prison for his role as the supplier of large quantities of heroin and cocaine in a narcotics trafficking conspiracy in the Bayshore area of Monmouth and Middlesex counties, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today.
Federal officials said Mr. Gregory Gillens, 47, of Hillside previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than one kilogram of heroin.
Officials said Gillens also admitted to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine. Judge Martinotti imposed the sentence today via videoconference.
Today’s sentence follows a coordinated takedown in November 2018 of 15 defendants charged in a federal criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine.
To date, 12 defendants have pleaded guilty, including lead defendant Guy Jackson.
Defendant Deberal Rogers has been indicted.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From May 2017 to November 2018, Gillens and others engaged in a narcotics conspiracy that operated in the Raritan Bayshore region of Middlesex and northern Monmouth counties.
Through the interception of telephone calls and text messages pursuant to court-authorized wiretap orders, controlled purchases of heroin and cocaine, the use of confidential sources of information, and other investigative techniques, law enforcement officers learned that Gillens regularly supplied large quantities of heroin and cocaine for further distribution, including to co-defendant Jackson.
Some of the heroin distributed by the conspiracy contained fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid.
Pursuant to search warrants executed on the day of Gillens’ arrest or soon thereafter, law enforcement recovered more than $96,000 in cash and more than 600 grams of cocaine from Gillens’ former residence and from inside a vehicle he had previously used to deal narcotics.
The vehicle and the cash have been administratively forfeited to the United States.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Martinotti sentenced Gillens to five years of supervised release.