Fugitive from Ocean County Captured in Mexico: Receives 32-Year Sentence

Justice Served as Ocean County Fugitive Receives 32-Year Sentence

Fugitive from Ocean County Captured in Mexico: Receives 32-Year Sentence

According to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, a former Brick Township resident who fled before trial was given a sentence of 32 years in state prison with 12 years of parole ineligibility.

Jason Bacon, 43, was sentenced on April 17 to eight years in prison for possessing a firearm during a controlled dangerous substance offense, eight years for financial facilitation, and consecutive jail terms for running a controlled dangerous substance facility, according to the prosecution.

The case was the result of an investigation that started in December 2017 after Clayton, Gloucester County, police found a sizable greenhouse behind an abandoned home on Delsea Drive. According to prosecutors, investigators discovered that the property was consuming a lot of water and power and had received freight deliveries related to illicit marijuana cultivation.

More than 25 pounds of marijuana, more than five pounds of hashish and hashish products, marijuana plants, drug growing equipment, and a loaded gun were found when search warrants were carried out on April 26, 2018, at properties in Clayton and Brick Township.25-caliber firearm, according to the prosecution. At the Brick Township location, Bacon was taken into custody.

Bacon allegedly deposited more than $400,000 in earnings from illegal drugs between 2013 and 2018, but he neglected to pay income tax on the money, according to an analysis of bank records.

Bacon was tried in absentia on January 14, 2025, but he did not show up. On January 30, 2025, a jury convicted him guilty.

The US Marshals Task Force apprehended him in Mexico on January 15, 2026; on February 4, he was extradited to New Jersey and detained in the Ocean County Jail until sentencing.