RED BANK – A Red Bank man was sentenced to 10 years in state prison for cocaine distribution, announced Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal.
Edward Scattaglia Jr., 43, was charged with distributing a first-degree quantity of cocaine in an investigation by the New Jersey State Police and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 40 months of parole ineligibility by Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels in Ocean County.
Scattaglia was charged in 2015 in “Operation Tidal Wave,” a cooperative investigation led by the New Jersey State Police Trafficking Central Unit and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Atlantic City Office, with assistance from the Division of Criminal Justice, Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Middletown Township Police, and Jersey City Police.
According to authorities, Scattaglia was a top member of a drug network that distributed cocaine in Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Scattaglia was using his residence as the focal point of his trafficking network, where he would meet with various individuals and supply them with cocaine for redistribution.
“While law enforcement has focused its attention on heroin, fentanyl, and opioid pain pills in its fight against the opioid epidemic, we continue to target major traffickers like Scattaglia who distribute cocaine, which contributes to hundreds of overdose deaths each year in New Jersey as well as the violence that accompanies street-level drug dealing,” said Attorney General Grewal. “Our collaborative efforts take aim at all drug dealers who fuel addiction and crime in our communities.”
Also arrested through Operation Tidal Wave was ring member Rick J. Hiemenz, 37, of Toms River. Hiemenz was sentenced on February 16, 2018, to 10 years in state prison. He also pleaded guilty to first-degree distribution of cocaine.
“The positive effects of collaborative investigations like ‘Operation Tidal Wave’ include a reduction in violence associated with dealing, the disruption of a major trafficking network, and almost certainly a life saved,” said Colonel Patrick Callahan of the New Jersey State Police. “The New Jersey State Police Trafficking Central Unit and our law enforcement partners are committed to shutting down these organizations and bringing dealers like Scattaglia to justice.”
