A federal grand jury has separately indicted a man and woman, both from Camden County, for selling oxycodone pills as part of their roles in South Jersey high-dosage oxycodone trafficking rings.

40-year-old Maurice Williams of Mount Ephraim has been charged in a five-count indictment with conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone, distributing and possessing with intent to distribute quantities of oxycodone, and attempting to do the same, and using a communications facility to further a drug trafficking crime.

56-year-old Lolita Paynter of Camden was separately charged in a four-count indictment with conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone and distributing and possessing with intent to distribute quantities of oxycodone and attempting to do the same.

Williams and Paynter were previously charged in March. They will be arraigned on dates to be determined.

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Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig says,

In early 2020, the FBI led a wiretap investigation into drug distribution operations that dealt in, among other drugs, high-dose, 60- and 80-mg oxycodone pills. Intercepted telephone calls revealed that on multiple occasions from January 2020 to March 10, 2020, Williams discussed obtaining redistribution quantities of oxycodone from Erick Bell in and around Camden, and surveillance confirmed their meeting. These included discussions of purchases by Williams from Bell of, on Feb. 3, 2020, 100 80 mg. oxycodone pills, and, on Feb. 18, 2020, 100 60 mg. oxycodone pills. Bell and Williams employed coded language and used multiple phones to conceal their activities. The investigation also revealed that on multiple occasions Paynter supplied quantities of oxycodone to Rocco DePoder on dates from January 2020 to March 10, 2020. Intercepted calls and surveillance showed that DePoder was regularly reselling oxycodone pills to customers in and around Gloucester City, New Jersey.

Eleven other defendants – 68-year-old Rocco DePoder, 47-year-old Marcus Rushworth, and 60-year-old Kenneth Rushworth, all of Gloucester City; 52-year-old Alfred Kee, Jr., of Blackwood; 57-year-old Robert Pratt of Myrtle Beach, SC; 74-year-old Wayne Muse of Lindenwold; Bell, 50-year-old Steven Walker, and 55-year-old Alexander Siaca, all of Camden; 51-year-old Antwan Tucker of Woodbury; and 32-year-old Anwar Abdullah of Pennsauken previously pleaded guilty in Camden federal court to drug trafficking offenses involving the distribution of prescription drugs. They are all awaiting sentencing.

Honig says the conspiracy and distribution and possession with intent to distribute charges against Williams and Paynter each carry maximum prison terms of 20 years and maximum fines of $1 million. The use of a communication facility charges against Williams each carry a maximum prison term of four years and a maximum fine of $250,000.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictments are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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