Life term for hiring Camden hit man

A convicted drug dealer who contracted the killing of an innocent Camden man in a case of mistaken identity was sentenced yesterday in federal court to life plus 10 years in prison.

Jevon Lewis, 34, agreed to have Kenneth Fussell killed at the behest of a Camden drug lord. He contracted the hit to Ahmed Judge, who ambushed Fussell in 2001 outside the Chelton Avenue home he shared with his fiancee and children.

Fussell, 24, had been mistakenly identified as the gunman in a drug robbery and shooting. A stand-out athlete at Camden High School with one year of college under his belt, he was working as a night janitor in Philadelphia and hoped to land a job as a high school track coach.

Judge, 33, was sentenced last month, also to life plus 10 years in prison. At that time, prosecutors first acknowledged publicly that Fussell had been an innocent victim.

Lewis and Judge were tried last year with Mack Jones. Jones, convicted on drug charges, was not associated with Fussell's death. His sentencing is pending.

All three men were tied to a wholesale organization run by Raymond Morales, one of Camden's most successful drug lords.

Morales, arrested in 2003 while taking possession of 30 kilos of cocaine, pleaded guilty and cooperated with investigators.

Morales admitted ordering Fussell's death, believing him responsible for a botched robbery of a drug operation Morales controlled.

A man who worked for Morales, Jorge Morales, was killed. The two were not related.

Federal and local investigators have identified a suspect in the Jorge Morales slaying and have passed their information to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, federal authorities said.