By: Najla Alexander
Authorities in Atlantic County announced that on Thursday, July 11, Jordani Martinez-Casiano, 25, of Pleasantville, was sentenced to five years of probation by the Honorable Bernard E. DeLury, Jr., P.J.Cr., for committing the crime of Second-Degree Unlawful Possession of a Handgun.
The State argued that he should be sentenced pursuant to the previous guilty plea agreement both parties entered, which was three years in N.J.S.P. with a one-year period of parole ineligibility, officials say.
According to officials, on August 28, 2022, Pleasantville Police officers responded to the area of Pizza Di Roma in Pleasantville in reference to a third-party caller advising that a heavily damaged Honda Accord was chasing after a minor and was last seen parked in King’s Super Market.
The caller provided officers with the vehicle registration, which was later confirmed to be out of state, officials said.
While officers began searching for the accused vehicle, officials say, one officer located a vehicle matching the description traveling eastbound approaching an intersection of North Main Street.
Authorities say police followed the vehicle until they were able to make a safe motor vehicle stop.
Officers approached the vehicle and made contact with the driver, identified as Jein Colon-Marrero, and the front passenger, identified as Jordani Martinez-Casiano, officials stated.
Officials said officers observed a metal baseball bat in plain view, which Martinez-Casiano advised he always kept with him. They also observed a fixed-blade knife on the driver’s side floor.
The occupants exhibited increasing signs of nervousness during the stop, and both denied being around Pizza Di Roma at the time of the reported incident, according to officials.
They did, however, advise that they were at King’s Market prior to the motor vehicle stop, officials say.
Officials stated the occupants denied the presence of weapons in the vehicle but did admit to the presence of marijuana.
Authorities say police conducted an open-air sniff of the vehicle with a police canine. After the open-air sniff, a positive indication was given, and the occupants were notified.
Police then began a search of the vehicle, which yielded a bookbag on the front passenger floor. Officials say that inside the bookbag, officers located a Sig Sauer P245.
The search also recovered approximately 36 grams of marijuana, small, heat-sealed bags, two digital scales, and sandwich bags, officials said.