NJ Woman Convicted By Federal Jurors Of Having Cocaine, Meth Fed-Exed To Her Home

Authorities intercepted two parcels addressed to "John Brown" in Newark in March 2021, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.

Mahogany Hawkins, 32, answered the door when an undercover officer posing as a FedEx driver delivered both of them, he said.Detectives knocked on the door again, identifying themselves as police this time, the U.S. attorney said.Hawkins said she was “getting dressed” and didn’t respond, Sellinger said, so the officers forced their way in.

They found her standing in a bedroom, he said.

After obtaining a search warrant, they searched Hawkins’s apartment.

They entered a backroom – locked by a keypad – and found what a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark calls "a workstation for packaging narcotics."Also found were methamphetamine pills, two plastic bags containing more cocaine, numerous empty vials used for packaging drugs and a package heat sealer, it says.That wasn't all: They also found a loaded handgun with a high-capacity magazine, Sellinger said.

Federal jurors in Newark convicted Hawkins earlier this month of possessing cocaine and meth for sale.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebecca A. Sussman and Jake A. Nasar of Sellinger's Criminal Division in Newark secured the verdict.A sentencing date wasn't available.

Sellinger credited special agents of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, those with the Port of New York/Newark; and Neark police. He also thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Ortiz.

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