TRENTON – Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced that a Camden man was sentenced to prison today for distributing large quantities of the powerful hallucinogenic drug PCP.
Kevin J. Hannah, 48, of Camden, aka “ICU,” was sentenced today to 10 years in state prison, including 4 ½ years of parole ineligibility, by Superior Court Judge Michael J. Kassel in Camden County. Hannah pleaded guilty on April 1 to a charge of first-degree distribution of PCP. On two occasions in November and December of 2011, Hannah sold approximately an ounce of “oil,” a liquid form of PCP, to a cooperating witness who was working with the Division of Criminal Justice and the Camden City Police Department. Hannah, who was already incarcerated, requested to not appear in court for the sentencing and was sentenced in absentia
Deputy Attorney General Julia S. Glass took the guilty plea and handled the sentencing for the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau.
The investigation into Hannah’s drug distribution activities was an offshoot of Operation Billboard, a nine-month investigation led by the Division of Criminal Justice that targeted a major heroin network in Camden allegedly led by Noel Gonzalez, 44, a reputed member of the Ñetas street gang. Gonzalez and 35 other alleged members of the network face pending first-degree charges contained in a Jan. 11, 2013 state grand jury indictment. The Division of Criminal Justice conducted Operation Billboard with the Camden City Police Department, Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, New Jersey State Police, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Hannah was arrested on May 30, 2012, at the same time that the cooperating agencies executed the takedown of the heroin network in Operation Billboard. At the time, Hannah was included on the “Top 10” list of violent offenders in Camden, as compiled by law enforcement authorities.
The investigation of Hannah was led by Detective Peppi Pichette of the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau and Detective William Benjamin of the Camden City Police Department. Deputy Attorney General Andrew B. Johns presented the indictment against Hannah to the state grand jury.
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