Two NJ Men Charged with Drug Offenses in Connection with Jersey City Street Gang

One defendant, with a prior felony conviction for manslaughter, also faces weapons charges in a federal crackdown on gang-related drug trafficking

NEWARK, N.J. – Two Hudson County, New Jersey, men have been charged in connection with their respective roles in a Jersey City neighborhood street gang that distributed cocaine and heroin, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

Anthony Phillips, aka “Ant,” aka “Little Ant,” 31, of Jersey City, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Michael A. Hammer in Newark federal court on June 6, 2024, and was detained. Phillips was charged by complaint on April 30, 2024, with conspiring with Shannon Tisdale, aka “Doonk,” 32, of Jersey City, New Jersey, to distribute heroin and cocaine. Phillips was also charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Phillips pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter on June 11, 2015, in Hudson County Superior Court, New Jersey, in connection with shooting and killing an individual in Jersey City. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Phillips was released from the Department of Corrections under parole supervision on March 14, 2024.

Tisdale appeared before U.S. Magistrate Leda Dunn Wettre in Newark federal court on May 17, 2024, and was detained.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

In December 2023, law enforcement began investigating individuals distributing narcotics in the area of Lexington and Bergen avenues in Jersey City, including members and associates of “Lex Mob,” a neighborhood street gang. On April 24, 2024, law enforcement observed Tisdale and Phillips distributing controlled substances in the Lexington Area. Law enforcement attempted to arrest Tisdale and Phillips, who both initially ran when law enforcement approached them. During the pursuit of Phillips, law enforcement observed Phillips remove and discard a firearm. Immediately after discarding the firearm, Phillips was apprehended. During a search of Phillips’s person, law enforcement recovered 12 orange containers of suspected cocaine and 13 orange glassine bags of suspected heroin. Law enforcement recovered the firearm that Phillips had discarded. That firearm was loaded with eight rounds of ammunition.

On the count of possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, Phillips faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. On the count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, Phillips faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years, which must run consecutively to any other prison sentence imposed. On the count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, Phillips and Tisdale each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents and task force officers of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Newark Field Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Ross A. Marchetti, and the Jersey City Police Department, under the direction of Public Safety Director James Shea.

This investigation was conducted as part of the Jersey City Violent Crime Initiative (VCI). The VCI was formed in 2018 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Jersey City Police Department, for the sole purpose of combatting violent crime in and around Jersey City. As part of this partnership, federal, state, county, and city agencies collaborate to strategize and prioritize the prosecution of violent offenders who endanger the safety of the community. The VCI is composed of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the ATF, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals, the Jersey City Police Department, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office, New Jersey State Parole, the Hudson County Jail, and the New Jersey State Police Regional Operations and Intelligence Center/Real Time Crime Center.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Linares of the Organized Crime/Gang Unit in Newark.

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