ICE Newark investigation leads to conviction of Pennsylvania man for conspiring to distribute cocaine

CAMDEN, N.J. — A Pennsylvania man was found guilty of conspiring to distribute cocaine following an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation.

Marvin Murphy, 48, of Philadelphia, was convicted on March 18 after a two-day bench trial at the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in Camden. Murphy was remanded into custody after the verdict.

“Murphy and his co-conspirators had ill intentions of pedaling poison into American communities from coast to coast,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Newark Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel. “Their devious plan to traffic at least ten kilograms of cocaine into New Jersey was thwarted thanks to our partnership with HSI San Diego and Mount Laurel Police.”

According to the investigation, from June 2021 through July 13, 2021, Murphy conspired with Carl Lee Holloway, Lavinston Lamar, and others to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.

On June 23, 2021, Holloway traveled to San Diego, California, to meet with an undercover agent posing as a drug dealer. Holloway and the undercover agent discussed arranging a drug deal in New Jersey during which the undercover agent would deliver at least 10 kilograms of cocaine for Holloway and his associates. During the meeting, Holloway called Murphy, and the two proceeded to communicate about the drug deal during the subsequent weeks.

On July 13, 2021, Holloway, Murphy, and Lamar separately arrived at a hotel in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, each with bags containing U.S. currency collectively totaling over $340,000. They met with undercover agents inside a hotel room at the hotel. They briefly inspected one of the kilograms of cocaine previously brought into the room by undercover agents, after which agents entered the room and arrested Holloway, Lamar, and Murphy.

Holloway was previously sentenced to 120 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to his involvement in the same conspiracy. Lamar was previously sentenced to 114 months in prison, which was later reduced to 100 months, after Lamar pleaded guilty to his involvement in the same conspiracy and to violating the conditions of his supervised release from a prior conviction for conspiring to distribute cocaine.

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.gov)