Traffic Stop Leads to Counterfeit Cash, Cocaine Charges

Gloucester Township Police and the U.S. Secret Service jointly investigated a counterfeit money scheme allegedly perpetrated by Erik Ellison of Blackwood and Robert A. Smith Jr. of Willingboro.

Pair Accused of Passing Phony Money at Wawa, Cocaine Possession

Gloucester Township Police and the U.S. Secret Service jointly investigated a counterfeit money scheme allegedly perpetrated by Erik Ellison of Blackwood and Robert A. Smith Jr. of Willingboro.

What started as a traffic stop Monday snowballed into charges of cocaine possession and passing counterfeit money for a Blackwood man and his alleged accomplice. The Secret Service even got in on the case. Now Erik Ellison, 21, of Huntington Mews in Blackwood, and Robert A. Smith Jr., 49, of Newton Lane, Willingboro, face multiple charges for drugs, forgery and more. Gloucester Township Police stopped a car, driven by Ellison, on March 4 at 8:30 p.m. for an alleged equipment violation on the Black Horse Pike at Clementon Avenue. Police said the car also fit the description of a vehicle used by suspects passing counterfeit money at local businesses. During the stop, officers discovered Ellison and Smith, the passenger, were wanted on …

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Oxen Hill Man Sold 'Large Quantities' of Cocaine, Police Say

Police recover more than 5 ounces of cocaine from the man's Blackwood home during a raid on Friday.

Gloucester Township Police have charged a Blackwood man with selling cocaine from his Oxen Hill home. Alabdulal Williams, 40, was arrested Friday after police executed a search warrant at his home that turned up more than 5 ounces of cocaine. Police began investigating Williams in January after receiving information he was selling "large quantities" of cocaine from his home on West Collins Court, according to Capt. Anthony Minosse. That investigation culminated in Friday's raid. In addition to cocaine, police reportedly recovered marijuana, drug-packaging materials and a large quantity of cash from Williams' home. Williams was charged with first-degree distribution of a controlled dangerous substance (CDS), second-degree distribution of …

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Sicklerville Man Pleads Guilty in Cocaine Conspiracy

Jamal Herrin still faces a murder charge in connection with a New Year's Eve 2012 shooting at a Sicklerville barbershop.

A Sicklerville man who still faces a South Jersey murder charge pleaded guilty in federal court in Camden on Wednesday to conspiring to purchase 13 kilograms of cocaine for distribution throughout New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Jamal Herrin, 40, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez to one count of knowingly and intentionally conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine Herrin was free on $1 million bail in connection with a New Year's Eve 2012 homicide inside Old School Nostalgia Barber Shop, in Winslow Township's Sicklerville section, when he became the focus of a Drug Enforcement Administration probe launched in April 2012. Herrin …

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Blackwood Man Arrested as Part of Family Drug Ring

The Blackwood man distributed cocaine and other narcotics in a drug ring that included his son and daughter, authorities say.

A Blackwood man was arrested Wednesday along with his son and daughter as conspirators in a drug ring that distributed multi-kilogram quantities of Colombian cocaine, as well as other narcotics, according to authorities. Police recovered more than $100,000 worth of drugs subsequent to the arrests. Voorhees Police Capt. William Donnelly on Friday announced the arrests of Robert F. Helsene Sr., 64, of Orchard Avenue, Blackwood, Robert F. Helsene Jr., 40, of Sandra Road, Voorhees, and Lisa Helsene, 32, of Echelon Road, Voorhees, to conclude an investigation that began in September. Authorities executed a search warrant at Helsene Sr.'s Orchard Avenue home on Wednesday. Neighbors reported there was always a lot of traffic in and out of Helsene…

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'El Wingador' Bill Simmons Unable to Get $100,000 Bail Reduced

After statements from Bill Simmons' lawyer, Judge Walter L. Marshall Jr. maintained the bail at $100,000.

Orange is a familiar color for Bill “El Wingador” Simmons, but he traded in a wing sauce-stained T-shirt for county jail overalls Friday afternoon, as he and his attorney made an appeal in Superior Court for a reduction in a six-figure bail for charges Simmons was dealing cocaine. But even after attorney David S. Bahuriak, a private attorney who took over from the public defender, spoke at length about Simmons' charity work, family life and local ties in an attempt to get the bail cut in half, Judge Walter L. Marshall turned down the request, leaving the wing king's bail at $100,000 cash or bond. Assistant Prosecutor Alec Gutierrez argued Simmons, who has been charged with first-degree cocaine distribution, is a flight risk, given he's …

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Bill 'El Wingador' Simmons Arrested on Cocaine Charges

The New Jersey State Police announced the arrest Tuesday of the wing-eating champion.

Five-time Wing Bowl champion and Woodbury Heights native Bill “El Wingador” Simmons has been arrested on cocaine distribution charges, New Jersey State Police Lt. Stephen Jones announced Tuesday. Simmons was caught with $8,000 worth of powdered cocaine and more than $4,000 in cash in his 2010 Kia Soul when State Police detectives stopped him Friday evening, June 15, in Harrison Township, Jones said. Immediately following the car stop, state troopers and investigators from the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office (GCPO), as part of a joint investigation by the State Police Drug Trafficking South Unit and the GCPO, executed two search warrants at two Woodbury Heights homes with a connection to Simmons, Jones said. Simmons was charged with …

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Prosecutor: Four Ounces of Cocaine Recovered from Sicklerville Home

The home was raided Thursday morning in a drug sting carried out in two counties.

Four people, including a Sicklerville man, were arrested on myriad drug charges after law-enforcement agents from two counties raided homes in Pleasantville and Gloucester Township Thursday morning. Police seized more than $55,000 in cash believed to be proceeds of narcotics trafficking, two guns and "significant quantities" of heroin and cocaine in the three raids, Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel announced. Police recovered four ounces of cocaine and approximately $15,000 from the home at 18-A Cottage Gate Rd., in the township's Sicklerville section, according to authorities. Christopher Scott, 26, of Sicklerville, was arrested and charged with first-degree possession of heroin (more than five ounces) with intent to distribute, …

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Police: Wanted Man Arrested with 10 Bags of Cocaine

Police arrested the man following a brief foot chase at La Cascata Wednesday evening.

Police say a man wanted on outstanding warrants was in possession of 10 bags of cocaine when officers caught up to him following a brief foot chase at La Cascata Wednesday evening. Members of the Gloucester Township Police Department's Operations Response Unit were conducting proactive patrols at the Kelly Drivers Lane townhouse community when they observed 30-year-old Ahmad Miller pull up in front of his home in a green Plymouth minivan around 5:40 p.m. Knowing Miller was wanted on warrants, Patrolmen Ed O'Lano and Thomas Wynne approached the 30-year-old La Cascata resident, who proceeded to run through a courtyard and several buildings toward the 7-Eleven store on Blackwood Clementon Road, Lt. Jason Gittens said. Miller resisted the …

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Pete Heinbaugh

12:54 pm on Friday, January 6, 2012

Drug dealer, outstanding warrants, resisting arrest...$14K bail sounds low...lets quadruple that, at least.   more ›