A Trenton man and three Ewing Township men were arrested and charged with drug-related offenses, following a two-month-long investigation by the Mercer County Narcotics Task Force that concluded Sept. 26, according to Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri.
Police officers with the Mercer County Narcotics Task Force, which includes the Princeton Police Department, arrested Qumaine Ellis, 27, of Trenton, and Ewing Township residents Ryan Sodomin, 22, Jacob Hahn, 25,and Jacob Vizzini, 25, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Mercer County Narcotics Task Force officers and Ewing Township police officers carried out search warrants at Ellis’ home in Trenton and at Sodomin’s home in Ewing Township, the prosecutor’s office said.
A search of Ellis’ home revealed he was in possession of seven grams of cocaine and a 9mm handgun and a .380 caliber handgun. He was charged with second-degree narcotics offenses, weapons offenses and resisting arrest, the prosecutor’s office said.
Sodomin was charged with second-degree narcotics offenses after police found 38 grams of cocaine and drug paraphernalia in his bedroom and in his car. The combined 45 grams – 38 grams in Sodomin’s possession and seven grams in Ellis’ possession – is valued at $4,500.
The investigation was touched off by a citizen’s complaint in July that patrons were using the Firkin Tavern on Parkway Avenue in Ewing Township to conduct drug transactions, the prosecutor’s office said.
Hahn and Vizzini were identified by the Mercer County Narcotics Task Force as patrons who used the tavern to conduct drug transactions. They were both charged with third-degree narcotics offenses.
Officers with the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office, and the Princeton, Hamilton, Ewing and Trenton police departments assisted with the investigation, which was under the command of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Investigations Unit.
