CAMDEN, N.J. – A Cumberland County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 151 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Joan Benitez, 41, of Millville, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute over 50 grams of methamphetamine. Judge Kugler imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From Jan. 22, 2020, to Sept. 9, 2020, Benitez sold crystalized methamphetamine, also called “ice,” on behalf of a conspiracy to distribute those drugs. Benitez distributed 1.57 kilograms of methamphetamine.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Kugler sentenced Benitez to five years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jesse Levine in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. He also thanked the New Jersey State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, the Atlantic County Sheriff’s Office, the Pleasantville Police Department, and the Atlantic City Police Department, for their assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Johns of the Criminal Division in Camden.