Sean Forman, Cocaine Stash House Robbery, NJ 2014

Willingboro, New Jersey, man Sean Forman, a/k/a “C-Life,” 43, was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison for orchestrating a violent scheme to rob a drug stash house of multiple kilograms of cocaine. The plot, which unraveled in January 2014, involved a six-man crew planning to storm a stash house at gunpoint, posing as law enforcement, and walk away with a fortune in narcotics and cash. Instead, they walked straight into a federal sting operation.

Forman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to distribute cocaine before U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman in Camden federal court, where the sentence was handed down. The operation, coordinated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), caught the crew red-handed during a pre-raid meeting in Maple Shade, New Jersey, on January 30, 2014. Agents seized five firearms—including a sawed-off shotgun and two stolen handguns—ammunition, a ballistic vest, masks, gloves, and zip ties, evidence of a paramilitary-style takedown.

According to court documents, Forman and co-conspirators Robert Smith, 43, of Trenton; Derrick Adams, 30, of Florence and Willingboro; Daquon Basnight, 25; Jamiil McFarlane, 24; and Morris Muse, 36, all of Trenton, planned the heist with cold precision. Wiretaps revealed Smith, in Forman’s presence, discussing the necessity of killing the stash house occupants if resistance occurred. Text messages and recorded calls detailed their strategy to impersonate police officers during the robbery, adding a chilling layer to their criminal intent.

The ATF surveillance operation culminated in the arrests of all six suspects before any violence could erupt. The agency’s Camden Field Office, under Acting Special Agent in Charge Scott C. Curley, led the investigation, working in tandem with the DEA’s Maple Shade Field Office and local police from Burlington City and Township. The coordinated takedown prevented what authorities feared could have become a bloodbath in a high-stakes underworld clash.

Judge Hillman also sentenced Forman to five years of supervised release following his prison term. The other conspirators have already faced justice: Basnight, McFarlane, Muse, and Adams each pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison. Robert Smith, whose recorded threats sealed his fate, was convicted at trial and handed a 360-month sentence in November 2016—three decades behind bars.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin C. Danilewitz and Howard Wiener prosecuted the case for the government. Brian O’Malley, Esq., represented Forman. U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman praised the ATF-led task force, calling the intervention a critical blow to violent drug-related crime in South Jersey. ‘This wasn’t just a robbery plot,’ Fishman said. ‘It was a planned massacre disguised as a score—stopped before it could spill blood.’

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