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Derrick Norwood, 59, of Neptune has already spent much of the past 25 years behind bars for a host of convictions out of Monmouth County for aggravated assault, robbery and burglary, as well as major drug and weapons offenses, among other crimes, records show.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson sentenced him via a videoconference from Trenton to 100 months in a federal penitentiary for slinging fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that authorities say is 50 times more potent than heroin and up to 100 times more powerful than morphine.
Norwood will have to serve just about all of the sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system.
Norwood was busted on July 18, 2019, with 1,982 folds worth of heroin mixed with fentanyl for sale that he stored in a safe in his home, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
Developed for pain management treatment of cancer patients, fentanyl is often mixed with heroin by dealers without the users' knowledge.
An ounce of heroin can produce 20 bags (or folds). There are 28,349½ milligrams in an ounce -- which comes out to 1,417½ milligrams of drug per bag.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, just two milligrams or more of fentanyl in a single bag is considered a lethal dose.
Given his criminal history, Norwood took a deal from the government rather than face the possibility of a lifetime prison sentence if he was convicted at a trial. He pleaded guilty in May before Thompson to possessing more than 40 grams of fentanyl with the intent to distribute it.
In addition to the prison term, the judge sentenced Norwood to five years of supervised release.
Honig credited special agents of the DEA and detectives from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office with the investigation leading to the plea and sentence, secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian D. Brater of her Criminal Division in Trenton.
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