A high-ranking member of a Jersey City street gang has been sentenced to nearly 19 years in federal prison on a drug conviction, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Jamil King, 32, was convicted earlier this year on a charge of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
According to Philip R. Sellinger, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, law enforcement officials obtained a search warrant for King’s Jersey City home in the summer of 2022.
While King fled when police showed up at his residence on the evening of July 8, officers recovered approximately 50 grams of cocaine from a pair of yellow sweatpants found in the apartment.
The pants, which matched the sweatshirt he was seen wearing that night, also contained his DNA, according to prosecutors.
King, a known member of a Jersey City gang known as Parkside, was arrested a few days later and indicted by a grand jury in March 2023.
Earlier this year, at the end of a two-day trial in Newark federal court, a jury convicted King of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas sentenced King to 225 months — or 18 years and 9 months — in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.
