Jameel Stephens and Shamera Dunston-Marrero
An Atlantic City couple accused of fleeing after a drug raid at their home was ordered held Wednesday.
Jameel Stephens and Shamera Dunston-Marrero had been wanted since detectives searched the woman's home Dec. 3. The two have been jailed since their arrests last Thursday.
The pair faces a dozen charges each, including maintaining a drug-manufacturing facility and first-degree levels of cocaine, along with possession of smaller amounts of MDMA and fentanyl, according to the state.
The home in the 400 block of N. South Carolina Avenue is also within 1,000 feet of New York Avenue School.
Both fled and were not apprehended for a month, when they were arrested together at a home in Pleasantville, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Allison Eiselen told the judge.
But attorneys for both claimed their clients did not run.
Stephens, 42, was stopped at the time in his vehicle and released, defense attorney Ed Weinstock told the judge.
Dunston-Marrero, 25, was outside her home at the time, when police told her they were obtaining a search warrant, her attorney, Melissa Rosenblum, told the judge.
"She said, 'OK, I'm leaving. I will be back later,'" Rosenblum said. "It was not a running. They didn't tell her that she couldn't leave. There was not even an indication that she was a target of the investigation."
Superior Court Judge Dorothy Garrabrant questioned the attorneys' assessment of the situation.
"The court finds it curious that neither (Stephens) nor the co-defendant returned to the residence that was the subject of the search where the contraband was located," the judge said.
Due to the level of drugs, the presumption shifted from release to detention under bail reform.
Weinstock pointed out that, prior to bail reform, his client would have been given a bail and been released after posting bond.
The pair had more than five times threshold for first-degree weight in cocaine, Eiselen pointed out. She also added that 21 grams of drugs suspected to be heroin has not been determined by the state lab to be the more powerful fentanyl.
Stephens' criminal history subjects him to extended term, meaning he could face life, according to information provided at his detention hearing.
"After having been convicted many, many times over for the exact same conduct, he continues to flood the community with substances that are highly toxic and addictive," Eiselen told the judge.
Detectives also recovered a small satchel with $16,150 in cash that the state alleges was from drug sales.
"What is supports is that drug dealing and preying off the vulnerable members of our addictive population is quite profitable," Eiselen told the judge.
Rosenblum argued that her client's only connection to the investigation seemed to be her "very short" relationship with Stephens, whom she had been dating for only about six months.
The mother of two could go live with her mother in Buena, her attorney said.
But Eiselen said the fact that Dunston-Marrero is the mother of two young children — ages 1 and 6 — was concerning since there were allegations that minors were used to sell the drugs. There was no indication her children were involved.
Stephens and Dunston-Marrero were ordered held and will remain in the Atlantic County Justice Facility pending the outcome of their case.
