Elijah Abdullah, Heroin Trafficking, New Jersey 2017

TRENTON, N.J. – A Trenton, New Jersey, man today admitted his role in a drug trafficking organization that allegedly distributed hundreds of grams of heroin in Trenton and the surrounding area.

Elijah Abdullah, 21, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin. As part his guilty plea, Abdullah admitted to possessing one or more firearms during the conspiracy.

Abdullah is the third defendant to plead guilty in connection with the investigation, which began in December 2016, when Abdullah and nine other members of a drug trafficking organization operating in Trenton were charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute heroin.

The conspiracy charge carries a mandatory minimum term of five years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of 40 years in prison, and a $5 million fine. Sentencing is set for July 19, 2017.

Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick credited agents and officers with the Greater Trenton Safe Streets Task Force, including special agents of the FBI, Newark Division, Trenton Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher; special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Newark Division, Trenton Field Office, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Scott C. Curley; officers of the Trenton Police Department, under the direction of Director Ernest Parrey Jr.; officers of the Princeton Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Nicholas Sutter; officers of the Ewing Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police John P. Stemler III; and detectives of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri, with the investigation.

Abdullah is the third defendant to plead guilty in connection with the investigation, which began in December 2016. The charges and allegations against the remaining defendants are merely accusations, and they are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Brendan Day of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Trenton.

Elijah Abdullah, who is also known as “Uncle E,” a/k/a “E,” will face a mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison and a $5 million fine for his role in the heroin trafficking organization. His sentencing is set for July 19, 2017.

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