A Newark resident today admitted conspiring to obtain marijuana from California to sell in New Jersey, and paying cash bribes to two U.S. Postal Service mail carriers to intercept and deliver parcels to him, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Officials said Glenn Blackstone, 48, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther D. Salas in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of giving bribes and one count of conspiracy to distribute marijuana. He was released on $100,000 unsecured bond.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From October 2014 to September 2017, Blackstone purchased marijuana from a conspirator, who produced the marijuana in California and oversaw shipping it in parcels from California and Nevada. Blackstone then sold the marijuana to others in Newark. Blackstone provided the then-USPS mail carrier, Leonard Gresham, 50, of Rahway, New Jersey, and another then-USPS mail carrier approximately $12,400 in cash payments to deliver the parcels to him.
These parcels had fictitious names and addresses on them and were not addressed directly to Blackstone.
Authorities say on multiple occasions, Blackstone asked the mail carriers to remove the parcels from the normal delivery stream and deliver them instead to him at various locations in Newark.
Blackstone paid the letter carriers approximately $50 to $100 in cash for each delivery.
According to authorities, on Feb. 13th, Gresham pleaded guilty before Judge Salas to an information charging him with one count of accepting bribes. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 30, 2018.
The drug conspiracy count with which Blackstone is charged is punishable by a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 40 years in prison and a fine of up to $5 million, or twice the gross gain from the offense.
The bribery count is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing is scheduled for July 24, 2018.