Repeat NJ drug dealer admits biting Toms River cop

🔴 A man has pleaded guilty to drug distribution and aggravated assault on a cop

🔴 He was repeatedly released after being caught dealing drugs due to bail reform

🔴 His record shows he spent three years in prison for a shooting

TOMS RIVER — An East Orange man with a criminal record is going back to prison for biting a police officer and repeatedly dealing drugs.

Marquis Belnavis, 29, of East Orange could face another seven years in state prison after being caught dealing heroin and cocaine on at least three occasions. He pleaded guilty earlier this month to distributing heroin and two counts of distributing cocaine, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

During one of the busts, Belnavis bit a cop in an attempt to get away. He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.

Officials said that the Toms River police saw Belnavis sell heroin to another person on July 9, 2021. Cops pulled over a 2018 Nissan Altima that Belnavis was a passenger in and found he had heroin. As they arrested him, Belnavis bit one of the officers on the hand.

Belnavis was arrested and taken to Ocean County Jail for processing. He was then released due to New Jersey's bail reform laws, according to the prosecutor's office.

Four months later, Belnavis was again spotted selling drugs. On Nov. 10, 2021, Toms River police saw him enter and leave a home. An investigation found he had sold cocaine to someone inside the residence.

Officers arrested Belnavis and took him to Ocean County Jail for processing. And again, he was released due to bail reform.

The next year, an investigation found Belnavis was selling cocaine throughout Stafford and Ocean Gate. He was arrested on Sept. 2, 2022 and taken to Ocean County Jail. He was not released.

Belnavis has a sentencing hearing scheduled for July 28. Prosecutors will seek sentences of four years, three years, and seven years respectively for each incident. However, the sentences would be concurrent and not consecutive.

State records show Belnavis was previously sentenced to three years in prison in connection to a triple shooting on the 200 block of Georgia King Village on July 18, 2021, according to Newark police. All three victims were treated at a nearby hospital and released.

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