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2 South Jersey men convicted of masterminding a drug ring

Two South Jersey men were convicted yesterday in Camden federal court of racketeering and conspiracy for heading a drug-trafficking organization that sold cocaine, methamphetamine, OxyContin and other prescription drugs.

Two South Jersey men were convicted yesterday in Camden federal court of racketeering and conspiracy for heading a drug-trafficking organization that sold cocaine, methamphetamine, OxyContin and other prescription drugs.

After a monthlong trial, the convicted drug kingpins Gary R. Maddox, of Washington Township, Gloucester County, and Jason E. McKinnon, 33, of Atco, now face up to life in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years without parole.

Maddox was also found guilty of distributing methamphetamine, distribution of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school, possession of cocaine and money-laundering. McKinnon, the adopted brother of Maddox, was also found guilty of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and gun charges.

Maddox and McKinnon and four co-defendants were indicted on Sept. 6, 2007, after a joint investigation by N.J. State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the New Jersey Department of Criminal Justice.

Deborah L. Gramiccioni, director of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Investigation, credited the "superb" efforts of the probe to the cooperation of law-enforcement agencies.

The two ringleaders of the drug-trafficking organization obtained up to kilogram quantities of powder cocaine, some of which was "cooked" into crack cocaine at a house in Voorhees, which other defendants then sold.

Maddox also obtained prescription narcotics, including OxyContin, Percocet, methadone, Xanax and other drugs from doctors, pharmacists, drug addicts and other sources.

The brothers were arrested in January 2007 at the same time that DEA agents and state-police detectives executed search warrants in South Jersey and South Tucson, Ariz.

Sentencing for the brothers is set for Aug. 7.

Four co-defendants earlier pleaded guilty, including Maddox's live-in girlfriend, Lori M. Gephart, 34; Michael Scott, 39, of Voorhees; Gerald Foster, 23, and Charles E. Muldrow, 22, both of Atco.

Foster received a seven-year sentence for racketeering; Muldrow received a six-year sentence for cocaine distribution. They will serve the sentences in state prison. Gephart and Scott will be sentenced on June 26. *