CAMDEN, N.J. – A Gloucester City, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 37 months in prison for conspiring to distribute oxycodone pills and selling Xanax pills, making him the eighth person to be sentenced for his role in a drug trafficking ring operating in and around Gloucester City and Camden, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Marcus Rushworth, 48, of Gloucester City, previously pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb to an information charging him with conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone and distributing a quantity of Xanax.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Rushworth admitted that on multiple occasions from January 2020 to March 2020, he worked with Rocco DePoder to sell oxycodone and Xanax to customers in and around Gloucester City. Rushworth also obtained a quantity of Xanax from DePoder on Feb. 17, 2020, in order to sell to a drug customer. Rushworth was charged along with 17 others in March 2020 in connection with an investigation by the FBI into the illegal distribution of prescription drugs, including high dosage oxycodone pills, to customers in Gloucester City and Camden. DePoder was sentenced by Judge Bumb on Oct. 8, 2021, to 70 months in prison for his role in the scheme.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Bumb sentenced Rushworth to three years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of FBI Philadelphia Division, South Jersey Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert; the Camden County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Gilbert L. Wilson; the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, under the direction of Director Laurie R. Doran; the Camden County Police Department, under the direction of Chief Gabriel Rodriguez; and the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Bethanne M. Dinkins, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.
He also thanked the FBI Newark Division, New Jersey State Police, Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for their assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara F. Merin of the Newark office.