Cocaine Distribution Nets Prison Sentence For Brick Man

BRICK, NJ — A Brick Township man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in connection with cocaine distribution in Brick and Asbury Park, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced Friday.

Henry L. Burns, 56, was sentenced Friday by Superior Court Judge Kenneth T. Palmer as a result of Burns's guilty plea on Jan. 22 to cocaine and weapons charges, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Burns pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine in an amount greater than 5 ounces with intent to distribute and to certain person not to possess a weapon in connection with the cocaine investigation in Brick and Asbury Park in April and May 2023.

Palmer sentenced him to 10 years in prison with five years of parole ineligibility on the weapons charge, with the sentences to run concurrently, Billhimer said.

Burns was arrested after a monthlong investigation in 2023 found he was using a Brick Township home and a storefront in Asbury Park to store and distribute cocaine, Billhimer said.

On May 17, 2023, detectives saw Burns leave the home and drive to a business in Red Bank, and they approached him in Red Bank and arrested him, the prosecutor's office said. Searches at the home and the Asbury Park store led to the seizure of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, oxycodone, naproxen, alprazolam, ten handguns, high-capacity ammunition magazines, multiple rounds of ammunition, and approximately $8,000 in cash.

He has been held in the Ocean County Jail since his arrest.