Philadelphia
man was sentenced to state prison today for distributing a kilogram of cocaine
to an undercover officer at the Deptford Mall in Gloucester County. He
was arrested during an investigation by the Atlantic City Task Force into a
conspiracy to distribute cocaine in Atlantic City.
Eduardo Colon-Lopez, 37, of
Philadelphia, was sentenced to 10 years in state prison, including 30 months of
parole ineligibility, by Superior Court Judge Bernard E. DeLury Jr. in Atlantic
County. He pleaded guilty on Aug. 4 to a charge of first-degree distribution
of cocaine, which was contained in a March 25, 2015 indictment returned by an
Atlantic County grand jury. Colon-Lopez was arrested on Sept. 20, 2014,
in the parking lot of the Deptford Mall as the result of an investigation by
the Atlantic City Task Force (ACTF), which includes members of state, county,
local and federal law enforcement agencies. He had been in the Atlantic
County Jail since his arrest, with bail set at $250,000.
Colon-Lopez’s arrest was part of an
investigation by the Atlantic City Task Force into a conspiracy to distribute
bulk quantities of cocaine in Atlantic City. Up until his arrest,
Colon-Lopez was known to the ACTF only as “Papito.” To apprehend him,
members of the ACTF initiated an undercover investigation through which they
arranged for Colon-Lopez to sell a kilogram of cocaine for $40,000 to an
undercover member of the New Jersey State Police. Colon-Lopez agreed to
complete the sale at a location in Atlantic City, but at the last minute, the
location was changed to the Deptford Mall. Members of the State Police
TEAMS (Technical Emergency and Mission Specialists) Unit arrested Colon-Lopez
in the mall parking lot on the morning of Sept. 20, 2014, after he delivered a
black duffel bag containing a plastic-wrapped kilo brick of cocaine to the
undercover officer.
Deputy Attorney General James
Ruberton prosecuted Colon-Lopez for the Division of Criminal Justice
Specialized Crimes Bureau. Detective Luis
Freites was the lead detective for the New
Jersey State Police. Acting Attorney General Hoffman thanked the members
of the Atlantic County Task Force responsible for the investigation and arrest,
including the New Jersey State Police, ICE Homeland Security Investigations,
Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, Atlantic County Sheriff’s Office, Atlantic
City Police Department and Pleasantville Police Department. Acting Attorney
General Hoffman also thanked the Pennsylvania Bureau of Narcotics
Investigations for its valuable assistance.