Maurice McPhatter, Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin and Crack Cocaine, New Jersey 2017

NEWARK, N.J. - In a major blow to the city's narcotics trade, 47-year-old Maurice McPhatter, also known as 'Ree,' was sentenced to 120 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute over a kilogram of heroin and 240 grams of crack cocaine.

McPhatter, a resident of Newark, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty to a superseding information charging him with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than one kilogram of heroin and more than 28 grams of cocaine base.

The sentence was handed down on an unspecified date, following a coordinated takedown in September 2017 of seven members of a drug trafficking organization led by Ahmad Johnson, also known as 'OC,' 38.

According to court documents, McPhatter was a runner for the organization, responsible for distributing narcotics to other distributors and users. The operation was believed to have been active from September 2016 through June 2017.

Johnson, the leader of the conspiracy, pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge and was sentenced on April 15, 2019, to 180 months in prison. Other members of the organization, including Willie McPhatter, Keith Henderson, and Sacha Negron, have also pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy charges and are awaiting sentencing. Cory Canzater was convicted in March 2020 of one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled dangerous substances.

U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito credited special agents and officers with DEA's High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Group 1, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson in Newark, with the investigation leading to McPhatter's sentencing.

McPhatter was also sentenced to five years of supervised release. The case is being conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), with the government represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patricia Astorga and Ari B. Fontecchio of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/member-newark-drug-trafficking-organization-sentenced-10-years-prison-conspiracy