PEMBERTON, NJ – Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina announced that a Trenton drug dealer pled guilty in Superior Court to causing the death of a Pemberton Township man who fatally overdosed on fentanyl he sold him during the summer of 2020.
Under an agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office, Marvin Montoya, 35, pled guilty to Strict Liability for Drug-Induced Death (First Degree), in exchange for a 12-year sentence.
The plea was entered January 31 in Superior Court in Mount Holly before the Hon. Gerard H. Breland, J.S.C., who scheduled sentencing for March 11.
The investigation began after the decedent, 23-year-old Michael Williams, was discovered by a relative in their Browns Mills home the morning of August 11, 2020, after he failed to get up for work. The investigation revealed that Williams had previously traveled to Trenton and purchased the drugs from Montoya in the city’s North Ward.
An autopsy performed by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood determined that Williams died of fentanyl toxicity.
Montoya is being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Laura Heisman.
The investigation was conducted by the Pemberton Township Police Department, with assistance from the BCPO High-Tech Crimes Unit. The lead investigator was Pemberton Township Lt. Jay Watters, who has since been promoted to chief.