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Jessie Mayfield, 59, told a judge he also had fentanyl for sale along with ilegal .22-caliber Ruger -- which, as a convicted felon, he was prohibited from owning, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said on Nov. 17.
Records show that Mayfield served three years and eight months in state prison for sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy and fondling two other girls, ages 5 and 6, in 2014.
His parole officers paid a routine visit to an East 26th Street rooming house in Newark where Mayfield had been living in late 2020, Sellinger said.
They "observed a large amount of cash in different denominations on Mayfield’s bed" and "saw text messages referencing drug transactions on his cellphone," he said.
They got a warrant from a judge, searched the residence and found a clear Ziploc baggie containing 115 heroin folds, another bag with several empty plastic vials and a scale," the U.S. attorney said.
More significantly, he said, they "found a notebook with dates and times of drug transactions written in them [and] recovered a Ruger .22-caliber semi-automatic pistol, along with a box containing 95 Winchester .22-caliber long rifle cartridges," he said.
Mayfield -- who authorities said apparently began dealing drugs sometime after his release from state prison in November 2019 -- was immediately returned to custody and will eventually be turned over to the feds.
Rather than risk the outcome of a trial, Mayfield took a deal from the government, pleading guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Newark to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, selling drugs and using a gun during drug trafficking.
U.S. District Judge Evelyn Padin scheduled sentencing for March 28, 2023. No matter what prison term she gives him, Mayfield must serve all of it because there's no parole in the federal prison system.
Sellinger credited members of the New Jersey State Parole Board, Paterson police and special agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the investigation leading to the charges, being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dong Joo Lee of his Violent Crimes Unit in Newark and Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Levin of the National Security Unit.
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