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Christopher Walls, 40, was arrested in May during a domestic dispute, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey announced.
He pleaded guilty on Tuesday before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Jill G. O’Malley to charges of causing a risk of widespread injury and manufacturing a controlled dangerous substance, Linskey said.
Walls received a plea-bargained sentence of 10 years in New Jersey state prison.
As part of his plea, Walls -- who is a former Long Branch police officer -- permanently forfeits public office, as well as his firearms and firearms ID card, the prosecutor said.
Long Branch police were called to Walls’ home on the 300 block of West End Avenue at at 10:36 p.m. on May 15 for a domestic disturbance.
While officers were on scene, another resident in the home alleged Walls was involved in suspicious narcotics activity, Linskey said.
The New Jersey State Police Hazmat Unit responded and reportedly found materials, chemicals and instruments consistent with a methamphetamine laboratory in both the basement of the residence and in a shed on the property, Linskey said.
The NJSP Hazmat Unit confirmed that Walls was in possession of all the ingredients necessary to manufacture methamphetamine and found methamphetamine residue in chemistry-related glassware on site, she said.
A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s
Office’s Professional Responsibility and Narcotics Units and the Long Branch Police Department also found that Walls had been in possession of books related to making methamphetamine, explosives and poison, Linskey asid.
Additionally, a large open and unsecured gun safe was in the home which was accessible to a child living in the residence, she said. Inside the gun safe were two long guns, four handguns, eight high- capacity magazines, and a large quantity of ammunition, the prosecutor said.
Walls admitted to making methamphetamine at his residence in Long Branch and to endangering his family and neighboring community in doing so, Linskey said, noting that laboratory tests confirmed that methamphetamine was in fact made in the residence.
Sentencing for Walls is set for January 14, 2022, before Judge O’Malley.
Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Melanie Falco handled the case.
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