Ex-Atlantic City drug kingpin given 12-year prison term

An admitted drug dealer, who conducted major heroin and cocaine business in and around Atlantic City, often using casino hotel rooms as headquarters, is sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Anthony Martin, 34, of Bridgeton in Cumberland County, has no parole eligibility for five years, according to the office of New Jersey Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino. On March 17, Martin pleaded guilty to a first-degree count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and a second-degree charge of possession of a handgun as a convicted felon.

Judge Patricia Wild in Atlantic County issued concurrent terms of 12 years, with four-and-a-half years of parole ineligibility, for the drug charge, and five years without parole for the weapon count.

Investigators who arrested Martin in December 2015 alleged that he pushed up to a half-kilogram of heroin per week in Atlantic City and surrounding communities, often setting up shop in casino hotel rooms.

The probe was organized by the Atlantic City Task Force (ACTF), which includes elements of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, State Parole Board, State Police, Atlantic County Prosecutor's and Sheriff's Offices, and police from Atlantic City, Brigantine, Pleasantville and Little Egg Harbor.

ACTF also partners with federal Immigration and Custom Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Drug Enforcement Administration.

Authorities said that ACTF operatives who stopped Martin's vehicle on December 11, 2015, later searched a storage unit he leased. Detectives seized a defaced Ruger SR9c-9mm semi-automatic pistol, a quarter of a kilogram of cocaine, 78 grams of heroin, and 18 grams of crack, along with more than $60,000 from Martin, the storage bin, a stash house and a safe deposit box.