Manalapan man pleads guilty to LSD related drug charges
A Manalapan man plead guilty Wednesday to first and third degree drug possession charges with intent to distribute as part of a plea agreement reached with the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office. In exchange for his guilty plea, the State has agreed to recommend a sentence of "10 with a 3" which essentially means ten (10) years in state prison, and three (3) years of parole ineligibility. This means that the defendant must serve at least three (3) years in state prison before he will be eligible for parole. Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci, Jr. will sentence the defendant on July 9.
According to the Asbury Park Press article entitled, "Manalapan man pleads guilty to drug charges", "Manalapan police in 2007 raided [the defendant's] Milton Avenue residence, where they discovered numerous sheets of LSD-laced rice paper with an estimated street value of $42,500 to $127,500. Police also seized more than 4 pounds of marijuana, more than $6,000 cash and more than 7,000 prescription pills — including oxycodone and morphine — during the August 24, 2007, raid."
Based on these facts, I believe the defendant got a very favorable deal from the State. Since he was charged with a first degree drug distribution offense, he could be facing ten (10) to twenty (20) years in jail. However, based on this plea agreement, he must serve three (3) years and then he can be released on parole. I would be interested to know if there were any issues with the search which may have cause the State to offer this favorable plea deal. Essentially, if the State was worried about the ability to get the evidence in at trial based on an unlawful or illegal search without a warrant, then they may have offered this plea agreement to ensure the defendant serves some prison time.
