OCEAN COUNTY – A Toms River man has been sentenced to state prison for distributing drugs and more after police discovered he was using his home to sell illegal substances.
Daniel Kessel, 37, was sentenced to five years New Jersey State Prison (NJSP) as a result of his previously entered guilty plea to Conspiracy to Maintain a Controlled Dangerous Substance Production Facility, in connection with events that occurred in the Holiday City section of Berkeley Township between August 16, 2020 and August 25, 2020.
Additionally, Kessel was sentenced to five years NJSP as a result of his previously entered guilty plea to Conspiracy to Commit Financial Facilitation and Failure to Pay Income Tax – relative to events that occurred in the Holiday City section of Berkeley Township and the Gilford Park section of Toms River between September 13, 2021 and October 20, 2021.
Lastly, Kessel was sentenced to five years NJSP in connection with a previously entered guilty plea to Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana in a Quantity of More than Five Pounds but Less than Twenty-Five Pounds, in connection with events that occurred in Toms River between January 31, 2023 and February 21, 2023. These charges are in connection with Kessel’s business call “BudHub,” which was found to be illegally distributing marijuana in Ocean County. The sentences will run concurrently.
After police determined that Kessel was using his home in the Holiday City section of Berkeley Township to distribute drugs, Berkeley Township Detectives executed a court authorized search warrant on his home on August 25, 2020.
As a result, detectives seized about seven pounds of Hashish, two pounds of THC, drug paraphernalia, equipment and supplies indicative of manufacturing and distributing narcotics, and about $18,000.
In addition, Detectives executed a court-authorized search warrant on the safe deposit box maintained by Kessel at a Bank of America and seized an additional $61,000.
Kessel was taken into custody and transported to the Ocean County Jail, and later released as a consequence of New Jersey Bail Reform.
Further investigation led law enforcement to discovered that Kessel was using his home in Holiday City, a camper and trailer located at a home to distribute narcotics.
On October 20, 2021, police searched the home, camper and trailer and found about $457,000 from those locations. Detectives also located and froze a Venmo account containing $49,000, as well as a CashApp account containing an additional $45,000.
Kessel was taken into custody and transported to the Ocean County Jail, and again released as a consequence of New Jersey Bail Reform.
A third investigation determined that Kessel was using a home in Toms River for narcotics distribution. On February 21, 2023, police searched the home and seized several ounces of Marijuana and THC products.
Kessel was taken into custody and transported to the Ocean County Jail; he was initially detained, but later released in August 2023 following the entry of his plea agreement for which he was just sentenced on January 5.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer acknowledges the diligent efforts of Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Burke who handled the matters on behalf of the State, and commends the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Asset Forfeiture Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit, United States Drug Enforcement Administration-High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Group 5, Berkeley Township Police Department Detective Bureau, Lacey Township Police Department Detective Bureau, South Toms River Police Department, Ocean Gate Police Department, Manchester Township Police Department Narcotics Enforcement Team, Toms River Township Police Department, Toms River Township Police Department Emergency Services Unit, Ocean County Regional SWAT Team and New Jersey Department of the Treasury-Office of Criminal Investigation, for their collaborative efforts in connection with these investigations leading to Kessel’s guilty pleas, and now his state prison sentence.
