Ocean County Man Pleads Guilty To Selling Drugs That Killed A Howell Man In 2023
Monday, November 10, 2025, 8:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
HOWELL TOWNSHIP, NJ.- Last Monday, a 40-year-old Jackson Township, New Jersey, man learned he will be facing up to 15 years in New Jersey State Prison when sentenced early next year, after pleading guilty to supplying a lethal dose of illicit narcotics that resulted in the death of a Howell Township, New Jersey, man back in December of 2023.
According to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago, on Monday, November 3, 2025, Paul R. Clites, 40, of Jackson Township, appeared in Monmouth County Superior Court and pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Jill G. O’Malley to one count of second-degree Reckless Manslaughter; and one count of third-degree Distribution of a Controlled Dangerous Substance.
In Pleading Guilty, Clites Will Be Facing 15 Years In Prison
In return for the guilty plea, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office will recommend that Clites be sentenced to eight years in State Prison on the Narcotics Distribution charge, and seven years on the Reckless Manslaughter charge, with the reckless manslaughter charge to be subject to the No Early Release Act, which will require Clites to serve 85% of his custodial term before becoming eligible for parole.
Following entering his guilty plea, Judge O’Malley accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for January 9, 2026.
Charges Stem From A Fatal Overdose In December 2023
The charges and guilty plea stem from an investigation that began on December 22, 2023, when members of the Howell Township Police Department responded to a 911 Emergency Call reporting an unresponsive man being found inside a residence located on Westbrook Road in the Township. Upon arrival, Police Officers located the lifeless body of a man, who had apparently succumbed to a fatal overdose. The man was subsequently pronounced deceased at the scene.
During an ensuing investigation at that time, Detectives of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Howell Township Police Department uncovered that Clites had been communicating with the victim during a period leading up to his death, and further investigation uncovered that Clites had distributed the lethal dose of narcotics to the victim just prior to his death.
