Asbury Park heroin dealer earns 25 years behind bars

FREEHOLD - The Asbury Park drug defendant who admitted holding more than 1,500 bags of heroin in two separate arrests heads to prison for up to 25 years.

Gregory Jean Baptiste, 28, will be eligible for parole in 12 years, under terms set by Monmouth Superior Court Judge Thomas F. Scully, who set the aggregate term for Baptiste's guilty pleas in each case.

Baptiste pleaded guilty to both indictments in their entirety, authorities said, opening the door for a maximum sentence. Based on his prior record, the judge imposed an extended prison term and ordered the sentences to run consecutively.

According to the office of Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni, the indictments included second-degree possession of heroin with intent to distribute, second-degree possession with intent to distribute within 500 feet of a public housing complex, and third-degree possession with intent to distribute in a school zone.

During a traffic pullover by Asbury Park police June 29, 2013, Baptiste was found with 430 bags of the drug, authorities said. While out on bail for the related charges, on October 21, 2014, a search of his car by Lake Como officers yielded 1,098 bags of heroin.

Baptiste and two others are accused of killing a Red Bank teacher in 2009. That case has yet to advance to trial stage.

The County's case was conducted by Assistant Prosecutors Martha K. Nye and Merlin K. Thomas. Freehold attorney Robert J. Konzelmann represented Baptiste.

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