Berkeley Township, NJ – Ryan Thompson, 35, of Trenton, was sentenced to seven years in New Jersey State Prison by the Honorable Kimarie Rahill, J.S.C., following his guilty plea to Manslaughter in connection with the death of a 55-year-old male in Berkeley Township on September 29, 2023.
Thompson will need to serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before being considered for parole, as per the No Early Release Act, after he pleaded guilty on March 4, 2024.
On the morning of September 29, 2023, Berkeley Township Police Department Officers were alerted to an unresponsive male at a residence on Torrey Pines Drive. Upon reaching the scene, the victim was found deceased due to a drug overdose.
An investigation by authorities including the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force, and Berkeley Township Police Department Detective Bureau, revealed that Thompson, along with Michael Wormann, 38, of Toms River, and Tina Martinez, 61, of Trenton, had distributed fentanyl to the victim the day before his death on September 28, 2023.
Wormann was charged on September 30, 2023, for various counts related to fentanyl distribution, and Martinez was charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl on October 17, 2023.
Thompson was also charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl on October 20, 2023, turning himself in the same day at the Berkeley Township Police Headquarters and has been held in Ocean County Jail since then.