CAMDEN, N.J. — An investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark, in collaboration with federal and state partners, resulted in a New Jersey man being sentenced to 171 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
Michael Venditti, 39, of Camden, who previously pleaded guilty to an information charging him with conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, received the sentence on May 16 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in Camden.
“Today’s sentencing of Michael Venditti is the culmination of an incredible partnership between HSI Newark, FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the New Jersey State Police, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey,” said HSI Newark acting Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker. “Our interagency cooperation has proven to be law enforcement’s most effective tool in taking down the infrastructure used to traffic deadly narcotics into our communities.”
According to the investigation, from March 2021 through September 2021, Venditti coordinated an operation by which he received U.S. Postal Service parcels collectively containing more than 100 pounds of methamphetamine. Venditti distributed the methamphetamine he received to others. On Sept. 20, 2021, Venditti and his conspirators were encountered at a residence in Camden. When law enforcement searched the residence, they seized approximately 8 pounds of methamphetamine, approximately $29,000 in U.S. currency, scales, and other drug paraphernalia.
In addition to the prison term, Senior U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler sentenced Venditti to five years of supervised release and ordered him to forfeit $29,433.
HSI Newark and its law enforcement partners in this investigation worked together as part of a Department of Justice-led Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multiagency approach.
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About HSI
HSI is the principal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce consists of over 10,000 employees, assigned to 235 offices within the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI's international presence represents the Department of Homeland Security’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.