Local man facing new round of drug charges

After being found guilty of drug possession, Kareem Archer allegedly headed off to sell cocaine.

   Capricorn Drive resident Kareem Archer, 24, faces new drug charges, filed about four hours after a jury found him guilty of possession of drugs but not guilty of planning to sell drugs, in state Superior Court in Somerville on Dec. 12.
   The new charges followed a tip received by the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force indicating that after leaving the courthouse, Mr. Archer would be going to a Raritan address with cocaine he planned to sell, according to Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest.
   Mr. Forrest said detectives observed Mr. Archer arrive, and after verifying the information that he had what they believed to be a large quantity of cocaine, took Mr. Archer into custody.
   He then turned over 24 bags of crack cocaine that he had hidden in a "body cavity," according to the prosecutor.
   Mr. Archer’s alleged crime occurred within 1,000 feet of two schools — Saint Ann’s Elementary School and the Somerset County Educational Services School — and he was charged with possession of drugs with intent to distribute and possession of drugs with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, according to Mr. Forrest.
   Mr. Archer had been on trial on charges of third-degree possession of drugs with intent to distribute, third-degree conspiracy to distribute drugs and third-degree possession of drugs, filed against him in July 2005.
   The jury in Mr. Archer’s trial found him guilty on Dec. 12 of third-degree possession of drugs, not guilty of third-degree possession with intent to distribute drugs and deadlocked on third-degree conspiracy to distribute drugs, according to Mr. Forrest.
   He was released pending sentencing by Judge Edward Coleman despite a plea by Assistant Prosecutor Frank Kolodzieski to revoke his $25,000 bail.
   Mr. Archer is also currently awaiting trial on charges of possession of drugs with intent to distribute stemming from a third narcotics investigation conducted by the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force.
   In that case, Mr. Archer was charged on April 20 in Somerville after allegedly throwing a bag containing cocaine to the ground as police approached and arrested him.