A former Atlantic City basketball star admitted Wednesday to being the leader of a deadly drug-trafficking ring that brought more than a kilogram of heroin into Atlantic County.
Khalif Toombs, 30, of Egg Harbor Township, faces 10 years in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.
Heroin connected to the group has been linked to 48 deaths and 84 non-fatal overdoses in the state from Jan. 1, 2017 to June 21, 2019.
One of those men, 27-year-old Nasir Brown, also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin.
The Atlantic City man faces five years in prison.
Eight other members of the drug trafficking conspiracy have pleaded guilty, including Toombs’ father, Wilbert Toombs.
Quadir Stanley, Dean Johnson, Khalif Davis, Joseph Aversa, Thomas Randall, Mayda Hernandez and Sarah Taliaferro also have pleaded guilty.
Charges remain pending against the 12 others.
Toombs admitted to conspiring with others to traffic between 3 and 10 kilograms of heroin and to being manager and supervisor of the drug-trafficking conspiracy, Carpenito said.
An investigation led by the FBI used physical and video surveillance, confidential informants, consensual recordings, and two court-authorized wiretaps to uncover the operations of Toombs and his co-conspirators.
The investigation tracked multiple stamps of heroin being distributed by Toombs and others, including, “AK-47,” “Apple,” “Fortnite,” “Rolex,” “Frank Lucas,” “Bentley,” “Pandora” and “9½.” Toombs and Brown are scheduled to be sentenced May 12.
