Monday, March 16, 2009

MORRISTOWN: Dealing in drugs and guns in Morris County proved lucrative for a Morristown man with a connection to a steady supply of cocaine and firearms.

Then came Friday, when authorities investigating the case since September descended on a Parsippany shopping center where a cocaine deal was allegedly supposed to take place to nab 25-year-old Jerome D. McEwen, arresting the man carrying a .38 caliber loaded handgun after a foot chase across Route 46, according to Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi.

Three other men were arrested Friday and the investigation continued over the weekend. Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact the prosecutor's office at 973 285-6200 or the Morris County Sheriff's CrimeStoppers program at 973 267-2255 or 973 COP-CALL.

After McEwen was apprehended, one of the two men who were with him at the time, driver Kenneth Mateo, 35, of Elmont, N.Y, fled in a Chrysler Aspen, but also was arrested at 3:20 p.m., after a high-speed police chase from Parsippany to Montville, where the driver crashed and was taken into custody, Bianchi said. The third man, Patrick Chenet, 38, of Rosedale, N.Y., was picked up at the shopping center carrying a black computer laptop bag with over $10,000 inside, authorities said.

McEwen, also known as Brix, was charged with unlawful possession of a handgun, resisting arrest, and multiple drug possession and distribution counts, and remains in the Morris County Jail in lieu of $350,000 bail.

Mateo and Chenet were charged with possession of a handgun, and Mateo was charged with eluding while Chenet was additionally charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute it. In total authorities seized over five ounces of cocaine valued in excess of $14,000.00 and three handguns, Bianchi said.

A fourth man linked to McEwen's illegal activities, serving as a lookout during at least one deal, Delfon Robbins, 32, of Morristown, was arrested on drug possession and distribution charges in Morristown, authorities said.

Chenet and Mateo are in the county lockup in lieu of $150,000 bail each, while Robbins is in the jail on $50,000 bail.

McEwen's activities have been on the radar screen for several months, after a Dover officer who was looking into a different case got wind of the drug dealing activity and notified the prosecutor's office, Bianchi said.

All told, the agencies involved in the case included the prosecutor's Special Enforcement Unit and Intelligence Crime Task Force; Dover, Morristown, Parsippany, Morris County Park police, state human services police, the county sheriff's office, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, New Jersey State Police and the New Jersey State Division of Criminal Justice.

Bianchi said, "This operation was part of our continued focus on the Governor Jon Corzine's Safe Streets initiative and our partnership with New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram and Director Jose Cordero, who heads the state initiatives in the area of gang, guns and drugs. This is a program that keeps a law enforcement focus on those individuals who are the most violent offenders.

"These individuals were dealing in guns and drugs. This automatically puts you on our radar," Bianchi said. "And we are relentless when it comes to keeping Morris County free and safe from the violence, guns and drugs."

"These are significant arrests, shutting down a major source of drug trafficking in Morris County," Director Cordero said. "Prosecutor Bianchi continues to aggressively target his resources against violent criminals and gangs trafficking in drugs and guns."

Despite these pending charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt following a jury trial at which the defendant has all of his rights guaranteed by the U.S. and New Jersey Constitutions and relevant state law.