TRENTON –Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that a Middlesex County man was sentenced to state prison today as the result of an investigation in which the New Jersey State Police seized three kilograms of heroin and 20 kilograms of cocaine.

Jeffrey Groth, 38, of Dunellen, N.J., was sentenced to eight years in state prison, including three years of parole ineligibility, by Superior Court Judge Benjamin S. Bucca in Middlesex County. Groth pleaded guilty to a charge of first-degree possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

Deputy Attorney General Philip Mogavero and former Deputy Attorney General Shontae Gray prosecuted Groth for the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. DAG Mogavero handled the sentencing. Groth was indicted in September 2015 as the result of an investigation by the New Jersey State Police that culminated in the major drug seizure.

“Major narcotics suppliers like Groth exploit the epidemic of addiction in our communities, turning huge profits on the heroin and other drugs that are destroying so many lives,” said Attorney General Grewal. “We’ll continue to target such drug traffickers and put them behind bars.”

“Drug seizures on this scale disrupt the supply line by which these corrosive drugs reach not just our urban centers, but small boroughs like Dunellen,” said Director Veronica Allende of the Division of Criminal Justice. “Through the vigilance of the State Police and the work of our prosecutors, we’ve put this drug dealer in prison and cut off a major source of heroin and cocaine in central New Jersey.”

“Drug seizures of this magnitude could only be accomplished through the cooperative efforts of our State Police investigators and partners at the Division of Criminal Justice,” said Colonel Patrick Callahan of the New Jersey State Police. “I commend the detectives of the State Police Organized Crime Control Bureau for their diligence and tireless efforts in identifying and arresting this individual whose only interest was in profiting on the addiction and suffering of our community.”

Members of the New Jersey State Police Violent & Organized Crime Control Bureau, Trafficking Central Unit, were investigating Groth in 2014 in connection with his distribution of heroin and cocaine from his home on 3rd Street in Dunellen. Detectives arrested Groth on Dec. 15, 2014, during an investigative stop of his Nissan Altima on Interstate 78 in Tewksbury Township, N.J. Detectives had been conducting surveillance of Groth’s home, and they developed information that he was en route to complete a drug transaction. Groth initially refused to consent to a search of the vehicle, but after a State Police K-9 gave a positive alert for drugs, Groth admitted that there was heroin in the car. A subsequent search of the car revealed 14,300 glassine folds of heroin.

Groth also admitted that he had large amounts of cash, cocaine and heroin in his home. A search of his home revealed $39,462 in U.S. currency, approximately 20 kilograms of cocaine, more than a kilogram of heroin, scales, packaging materials, other drug paraphernalia and computer equipment linked to an extensive video and audio surveillance system guarding the home. The total amount of heroin seized in the car and the home was approximately three kilograms.

Attorney General Grewal commended the attorneys who prosecuted the case for the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau and the detectives who handled the investigation for the State Police Violent & Organized Crime Control Bureau, Trafficking Central Unit. He also commended former Deputy Attorney General Susan Wolansky, who handled the state’s forfeiture action, which resulted in Groth forfeiting the cash seized, the Nissan Altima, and a Honda Pilot.

Defense Attorney:
Wolodymyr Tyshchenko, Esq., Caruso Smith Picini, Fairfield, N.J.

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