Monmouth County Man Sentenced to 100 Months in Prison for Possessing with Intent to Distribute more than 40 Grams of Fentanyl

TRENTON, N.J. - A Monmouth County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 100 months in prison for possessing more than 40 grams of fentanyl with the intent to distribute, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.

Derrick Norwood, 58, of Neptune, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson to an information charging him with one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl. Judge Thompson imposed the sentence today by videoconference.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On July 18, 2019, Norwood knowingly possessed 39 bricks, or 1,982 individual glassine bags, of heroin mixed with fentanyl inside a safe in his residence. Norwood admitted that he possessed the heroin-fentanyl mixture for the purpose of distributing it to others in and around Monmouth County.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Thompson sentenced Norwood to five years of supervised release.

Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson, and detectives from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Lori Linskey, with the investigation leading to today's sentencing.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian D. Brater of the Criminal Division in Trenton.