Man Who Sold Drugs Out of Home Near Bay Head Elementary School Sentenced to Jail Term

Darryl Merritt (Photo: OCPO)

A Neptune man who was previously found guilty of possession with intent to distribute both cocaine and heroin has been sentenced to a 12 year jail term, prosecutors said Thursday.

Darryl Merritt, 30, will spend six years behind bars before he is eligible for parole. Authorities say the guilty verdict arose from an investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force into the distribution of heroin and cocaine out of a rented house near the Bay Head Elementary School in late 2016 and early 2017.

On March 20, 2017, detectives from the Ocean County Narcotics Strike Force, Ocean County Regional SWAT Team and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit, executed a no knock search warrant on the residence in Bay Head. During the execution of the warrant, SWAT Officers saw Merritt leaving the bathroom where he had attempted to destroy eleven bricks of heroin by flushing them down the toilet. Over one half-ounce of heroin and one half-ounce of cocaine and paraphernalia associated with the distribution of a controlled dangerous substance were recovered from the residence, prosecutors said.

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