A Long Branch restauranteur faces as many as 80 years in prison for peddling drugs and weapons, mostly in his bistro.

Heroin
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Anthony "Nygee" Stevenson, 47, of Long Branch, was convicted on 91 counts after a two-month trial in Monmouth County Superior Court in Freehold, according to information from the office of acting County Prosecutor Chris Grammiccioni.

Seventy-seven of the charges involved undercover sales of heroin through his Christabell's American Soul Food Restaurant in Long Branch.

Stevenson was convicted of second-degree distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, and two counts each of possession with intent to distribute,  conspiracy to distribute, unlawful possession of a weapon, unlawful sale of a weapon, and possession and sale of large-capacity magazines.

Each second-degree charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

According to investigators, surveillance began May 25, 2011, the day Stevenson opened the restaurant on Springdale Avenue, and was dubbed "Operation Grand Opening."

Between that time and a sweep of more than 40 arrests between August 1 and 8 of the same year, detectives intercepted more than 9,000 calls, authorities said.

Stevenson conducted 22 transactions, involving some 1,900 bags of heroin, with undercover narcs, either directly or through a delivery driver. At his arrest, Stevenson and a co-defendant were holding 2,500 bags of heroin they had brought in from Newark, authorities said.

Stevenson also sold two assault rifles with large-capacity magazines to an undercover investigator for $3,000.

His sentencing has been scheduled for July 29.

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