United States Drug Enforcement Administration

NEWARK, N.J. – Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division Susan A. Gibson and Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Rachael A. Honig announced a Passaic County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 45 months in prison for distributing fentanyl.

Tawan Grier, a/k/a “TJ,” 22, of Paterson, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti to an information charging him with knowingly and intentionally distributing fentanyl. Judge Martinotti imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

Grier is an associate of the 230 Boys street gang, which operates primarily around Rosa Parks Boulevard and Godwin Avenue in Paterson. Through numerous controlled purchases of narcotics, consensually recorded telephone calls and text messages, physical surveillance, and the analysis of telephone call detail records, law enforcement officers determined that from September 2018 through Oct. 1, 2019, Grier and other members and associates of the 230 Boys distributed narcotics, including heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine base.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Martinotti sentenced Grier to three years of supervised release.

Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson in Newark; special agents and task force officers with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Newark Division, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Toby C. Taylor; officers of the N.J. State Police, under the direction of Col. Patrick J. Callahan; officers of the Paterson Police Department, under the direction of Director Jerry Speziale and Police Chief Ibrahim Baycora; detectives of the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Camelia Valdes; and the Passaic County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik, with the investigation leading to the charges. She also thanked the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bergen County Sheriff's Office and the Belleville and Livingston police departments for their assistance with the case.

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