TRENTON, N.J. – Two Trenton men have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a violent drug trafficking conspiracy that allegedly distributed more than one kilogram of heroin in Trenton and the surrounding area, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today.
Authorities said Kahlil Hampton, a/k/a “Ruger,” 29, was sentenced today to 176 months in prison and five years of supervised release after previously pleading guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin. Judge Wolfson imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.
According to authorities, Donte Ellis, a/k/a “Shalant,” 42, was sentenced Nov. 15, 2019, to 181 months in prison and five years of supervised release after previously pleading guilty before Judge Wolfson to an information charging him with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin.
Ellis also admitted to possessing a firearm during the offense.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
In October 2018, Ellis, Hampton, and 24 other members of a drug trafficking conspiracy operating in Trenton were charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute heroin. On Aug. 8, 2019, a grand jury returned a 15-count second superseding indictment charging nine of those defendants – Omar Council, a/k/a “Stacks,” a/k/a “O,” a/k/a “Y-O,” a/k/a “Snow,” Jerome Roberts, a/k/a “Righteous,” a/k/a “Lee;” David Antonio, a/k/a “Papi,” a/k/a “Pop,” a/k/a “Victor Arias,” a/k/a “Santiago Ramirez;” Brian Phelps, a/k/a “B-Money,” a/k/a “B;” Timothy Wimbush, a/k/a “Young Money;” Taquan Williams, a/k/a “Trip;” Jubri West; Dennis Cheston Jr., a/k/a “Beans;” and Wayne K. Bush – with various crimes relating to the drug-trafficking conspiracy, including firearms charges against Phelps, Wimbush, Williams, West, and Cheston
To date, 20 defendants have pleaded guilty in connection with their participation in the conspiracy.
From as early as October 2017 to October 2018, the defendants and others engaged in a narcotics conspiracy that operated in the areas of Martin Luther King Boulevard, Sanford Street, Middle Rose Street, Southard Street, Hoffman Avenue, and Coolidge Avenue in Trenton, and which sought to profit from the distribution of heroin and numerous other controlled substances.
Through the interception of telephone calls and text messages pursuant to court-authorized wiretap orders, controlled purchases of heroin, the use of confidential sources of information, and other investigative techniques, law enforcement learned that in September and October 2018, Ellis—who had been released from state prison in August 2018 for two prior convictions for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder—obtained large quantities of heroin on multiple occasions from codefendant Jakir Taylor, which he redistributed to others in and around Trenton.
The investigation also revealed that, on several occasions when Ellis obtained supplies of heroin from Taylor, he also obtained a firearm from Taylor for protection in redistributing the narcotics.
Hampton was a close associate of Taylor, and he regularly obtained and redistributed large quantities of heroin in furtherance of the conspiracy.
The investigation also revealed that Hampton had access to one or more firearms.