MAYS LANDING, NJ – Three men have been sentenced for their roles in a violent Atlantic County drug trafficking organization linked to two related murders committed more than two years apart, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Steven Martinez, 31, of Egg Harbor City; Shiraz Khan, 36, of Bergen County; and Deshawn Hose, 28, of Atlantic City, were sentenced in Superior Court after pleading guilty to charges connected to a racketeering network that operated throughout the county between 2016 and 2020. Their convictions stem from a lengthy investigation into the murders of Demond Cottman, 21, and his father, Demond Tally, 45, both of Atlantic City.
Cottman was shot multiple times outside Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing on Black Friday in 2016. His father was killed two and a half years later, on Feb. 10, 2019, when he was gunned down outside his home in Atlantic City. Prosecutors said both killings were tied to Martinez’s leadership role in a major narcotics operation. Evidence showed Martinez ordered Tally’s murder and used drug proceeds to hire others to carry it out.
In March 2025, co-defendant Shamar Scott was convicted of murder after jurors found he was one of the shooters hired by Martinez. Hose admitted to providing the firearm and helping locate Tally on the night of the 2019 murder, while Khan was not involved in the homicides but pleaded guilty to helping lead the trafficking network and to paying a correctional officer to smuggle contraband into the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
Martinez pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including two counts of aggravated manslaughter, racketeering, and narcotics offenses. He received a total sentence of 35 years in state prison, with 30 years to be served at 85 percent before parole eligibility. Khan was sentenced to 15 years in prison with five years of parole ineligibility, and Hose received 12 years, also subject to 85 percent parole ineligibility.
Prosecutors said the remaining defendants in the racketeering case are expected to be sentenced later this month.
