Judge Sentences 25-Year-Old Man To Probation For Second-Degree Unlawful Possession Handgun

Saturday, July 13, 2024, 6:30 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

MAYS LANDING, NJ.- On Thursday, July 11, 2024, Jordani Martinez-Casiano, 25, of Pleasantville, New Jersey, appeared in Atlantic County Superior Court and was sentenced by the Honorable Bernard E. DeLury, J.S.C., to a term of five years of probation, for committing the crime of second-degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon, which usually requires a term of incarceration.

     During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office argued that Martinez-Casiano should be sentenced pursuant to the plea agreement that both parties entered into. This agreement would have required Martinez-Casiano to serve three years in New Jersey State Prison with a one-year parole ineligibility.

     According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the sentence stems from an incident that unfolded on August 28, 2022, when members of the Pleasantville Police Department responded to the area of Pizza Di Roma in Pleasantville following receiving a 911 Emergency Call from a person who reported witnessing a damaged Honda Accord was chasing after a juvenile and was last seen parked in King’s Super Market.

     The caller provided Police Officers with the vehicle’s license plate number, which was later confirmed to be from another state. 

     While searching for the vehicle, a Police Officer located a vehicle matching the description traveling eastbound, approaching the intersection of North Main Street. At that point, the Officer conducted a motor vehicle stop.

    Police Officers approached the vehicle and made contact with the driver, identified as Jein Colon-Marrero, and the front passenger, Jordani Martinez-Casiano. While Police Officers were talking with the two, they observed a metal baseball bat which Martinez-Casiano said he always keeps with him. Officers then observed a fixed-blade knife on the driver’s side floor.

     When asked by Officers about the knife, Martinez-Casiano, and Colon-Marrero started to become nervous and gave conflicting statements about being in the area of Pizza Di Roma but did admit to being at King’s Super Market. When Officers inquired as to whether any other weapons might be present in the vehicle, the two denied that they had any weapons but did admit to having marijuana. 

     A positive open-air response from a Police Canine Unit led to Police Officers searching the Honda Accord, at which time Officers discovered a bookbag on the front passenger floor. A subsequent search of the bookbag revealed a Sig Sauer P254 handgun and just around 36 grams of marijuana, small heat-sealed bags, two digital scales, and sandwich bags.

     The two were then taken into custody and formally charged.