Lamar F. Young (N.J. Department of Corrections)
 

Appellate judges have rejected a Glassboro man’s claim that he was dealing dogs and not drugs when police arrested him as part of a sting operation.

Lamar F. Young, 38, was convicted of dealing crack cocaine on two occasions in 2011 and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

The arranged buys were conducted with the help of a cooperating witness and recorded, according to the appellate ruling.

Young appealed his conviction in 2013 and was denied. He filed a petition for post-conviction relief and was denied again in 2015.

Young has claimed that the recorded drug deals actually involved the sale of a dog. He told the court that he was a pit bull breeder and that he had arranged to meet with the state’s cooperating witness to sell him a puppy named King.

Young also claimed his attorney gave him bad advice, advising him to reject a plea deal in the case because he was “guaranteed to win the trial.” His attorney also told him not to testify because of pending charges in another case, Young said.

He further claims his attorney never told him he could receive up to 20 years in prison because of past convictions.

In both drug buys, which occurred in Glassboro, the witness was given $600 cash to purchase drugs. As standard procedure, police searched the witness and his vehicle before and after each buy. In both cases, he returned with cocaine and no cash, according to testimony.

In recordings of the conversations, nothing is said about buying or selling a puppy, appellate judges note.

Young claims his attorney also failed in never investigating the puppy claim.

Young’s wife, who corroborated the dog-selling claim, also criticized the informant in the case, calling him a known “liar and drug dealer,” according to the ruling, which also noted that the witness refused to return to New Jersey to testify at the trial.

The appellate judges didn’t buy any of Young’s claims and upheld the previous denial of post-conviction relief.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.

 

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.