Ocean County Man Faces Prison for Deadly Drug Supply

Nearly six years after a young man’s life was cut short by a lethal dose of cocaine and fentanyl, the man responsible for supplying the deadly drugs has admitted his guilt.

William Anderson, 60, of Browns Mills, pleaded guilty to manslaughter before Judge David M. Fritch in connection with the overdose death of a 29-year-old man at the Pelican Inn in Toms River. The plea comes as prosecutors prepare to seek a seven-year sentence in New Jersey State Prison when Anderson is sentenced on May 2, 2025, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced.

The events that led to this conviction began on February 28, 2019, when Toms River police officers rushed to the Pelican Inn after receiving a distress call about an unresponsive male. What they found was grim—a young man in the grips of a drug overdose, teetering on the edge of death.

Officers immediately administered life-saving measures, fighting to bring him back from the brink. EMS personnel miraculously re-established a pulse, and the victim was transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River. But the battle was already lost. Three days later, on March 2, 2019, he succumbed to the toxic mix of drugs in his system.

Determined to bring those responsible to justice, investigators from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force and the Toms River Township Police Department Detective Bureau launched a painstaking investigation. Their work led them to William Anderson, a man who had supplied heroin and cocaine to a third party just one day before the fatal overdose—a transaction that ultimately placed the lethal substances into the victim’s hands.

Toxicology reports confirmed that cocaine and fentanyl were coursing through the victim’s system at the time of his death. Further laboratory analysis confirmed the worst—the drugs found in the victim matched the substances distributed by Anderson. The Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that the lethal dose was the direct cause of death.

Armed with this damning evidence, authorities charged Anderson with Strict Liability Drug-Induced Death on August 20, 2021—a charge that carries severe consequences for drug dealers whose products lead to fatalities.

Four days after the charges were filed, on August 24, 2021, Anderson was arrested by detectives from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and Pemberton Township Police Department. But despite the severity of his alleged crimes, Anderson was released under New Jersey’s Bail Reform laws.

Now, after years of legal maneuvering, Anderson has finally accepted responsibility for his role in the victim’s death. With his guilty plea entered, prosecutors will push for a seven-year prison sentence.