Recently Busted Morris Dealer Gets 20 Years For Previous Drug Crimes

A previously convicted drug dealer will spend the next 20 years in prison after he was sentenced this week for his role in a years-long distribution ring, and has the potential for more to come.

United States Attorney Paul Fishman announced Christopher Castelluzzo, 31, was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison after being found guilty of conspiracy to distribute or possess methylone, cocaine, MDMA, and marijuana. Castelluzzo was convicted in May 2015.

Castelluzzo was joined by Luke Atwell, 34, of Hamilton in the conspiracy, Fishman said. Atwell received a sentence of 220 months in prison.

According to Fishman:

Atwell and Castelluzzo were partners in a drug dealing conspiracy that spanned 29 months. In March 2013, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted an investigation resulting in the seizure of more than six kilograms of methylone at a drug mill in East Orange, New Jersey, that was tied to Atwell and Castelluzzo.

About a month later, in April 2013, agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), seized 2.9 kilograms of methylone that Atwell intended to pick up at the Manville, New Jersey, Post Office. Agents replaced the package with a dummy package, which Atwell picked up and placed in the car he occupied with Castelluzzo. Following the arrest of both defendants outside the Manville Post Office, agents searched various electronic devices of the defendants and uncovered email communications establishing a drug distribution conspiracy dating back to 2010.

In addition to the prison terms, Judge Wolfson sentenced both Atwell and Castelluzzo to three years of supervised release.

Castelluzzo was indicted earlier this month as the ringleader in a statewide drug ring that included cocaine sales in Atlantic City, an attempted murder plot, and more than a dozen other associates and partners – Atwell included – who had a part in the alleged crimes.

In that bust, Castelluzzo, of Lake Hopatcong, is named as the head of operations and faces charges including leader of a narcotics trafficking network which carries a sentence of life in prison. See more on that story here.

Castelluzo has been convicted of drug-related crimes five times since 2008.