Hazlet Man Pleads Guilty To Narcotics & Gun Offenses
Wednesday, March 12, 2025, 12:30 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
HAZLET, NJ.- On Monday, a 47-year-old Hazlet, New Jersey, man learned he will be facing spending up to the next fifteen years in New Jersey State Prison after pleading to narcotics and firearms offenses.
On Monday, March 10, 2025, Robert Maldonado, 47, of Hazlet, appeared in Monmouth County Superior Court and pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley to first-degree Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Dangerous Substance; second-degree Possession of a Firearm in the Course Committing a Drug Offense; and second-degree Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Dangerous Substance.
According to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago, in return for the guilty plea, the Monmouth County Prosector’s Office will recommend at the time of sentencing Maldonado be sentenced to a term of fifteen years in State Prison and will be required to serve 42 months of his custodial term before becoming eligible for parole.
Following entering his guilty on Monday, Judge Oxley accepted the plea and scheduled Maldonado to be sentenced on May 16, 2025.
Charges And Guilty Plea Stem From Drug Investigation
The charges and guilty plea stem from multiple investigations by members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Bayshore Task Force, the Hazlet Police Department, the Keansburg Police Department, and the Middletown Police Department.
During the initial investigation and following Maldonado being identified as a narcotics distributor in January of 2024, law enforcement investigators executed a court-authorized on Maldonado’s residence. During the search, investigators located and seized a 9mm handgun and multiple illicit, controlled dangerous substances, including more than 5 ounces of cocaine.
During the course of a subsequent investigation in November 2024, investigators obtained and executed a second court-authorized search warrant at Maldonado’s residence. During the search, investigators uncovered and seized an additional half ounce of cocaine as well as drug paraphernalia, consistent with illicit narcotics sales.
