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Charmaine Coit, defense attorney Robert N. Kalisch Jr., Marcus Carter (STORY/PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter)
Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Keith Travers presented Marcus Carter an offer of 13 years in prison with no parole eligibility for nine yesterday in Hackensack for having two handguns and more than a quarter-pound of cocaine when he led a U.S. marshal on a chase through Route 3 traffic in East Rutherford.
If Carter takes the deal, Travers said, 25-year-old Charmaine Coit will be allowed to plead guilty to third-degree conspiracy, in exchange for probation, for her role in the Staten Island couple’s alleged drug-dealing scheme.
“Those offers are contingent on one another,” Travers said. “If Mr. Carter goes to trial, Ms. Coit will be going to trial with him.”
Coit was arrested after Bergen County Sheriff’s officers quickly sniffed out the plot, authorities said.
She’s been serving a 180-day sentence at the Hudson County Jail in connection with another crime and now remains free without bail.
Carter, 36, has remained at the Bergen County Jail since the marshal tracked him down at the Homestead Village/Extended Stay on eastbound Route 3 last August. His bail is $117,500.
Authorities at the time said Carter — who was wanted in New York — was carrying two Raven Arms .25-caliber handguns, hollow-nose bullets and 123 bags of cocaine that would have sold for roughly $7,500 on the street.
The original charges included being a felon in possession of a handgun (having been convicted of drug-related felonies on Staten Island), having illegal ammunition, possessing a weapon while committing a drug crime, drug possession, distributing cocaine, resisting arrest and being a fugitive from justice.
Presiding Judge Liliana DeAvila-Silebi gave both defendants and their attorneys until Dec. 8 to consider the prosecutor’s offers.
STORY/PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter
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