FREEHOLD – A Monmouth County Superior Court judge sentenced a Neptune Township man to 20 years in state prison for his role in the April 2016 fatal shooting at a township Veterans of Foreign Wars Post following a funeral repast, announced Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
Officials say Calvin Johnson, 42, of Neptune Township, was sentenced by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Richard W. English to 20 years in a New Jersey state prison subject to the provisions of the “No Early Release Act” (NERA) requiring him to serve 85 percent of the sentence imposed before becoming eligible for release on parole.
According to officials, at approximately 8 p.m. on April 18, 2016, officers from the Neptune Township Police Department were on patrol when they heard the sound of gunshots coming from the area of the VFW Post.
Upon their arrival, officers noted a large crowd and discovered the victim lying in the rear parking lot with multiple gunshot wounds. MONOC paramedics responded to the scene, and Basden was pronounced deceased at 8:15 p.m. according to officials.
Johnson will also be subject to Parole Supervision for five years upon completion of his prison term. Judge English ordered Johnson to serve the sentence consecutive to the current sentence he is serving at Northern State Prison for a Violation of Parole related to a prior Aggravated Manslaughter conviction.
Johnson pleaded guilty back in April to first degree Aggravated Manslaughter admitting he shot Corey Basden, 33, of Neptune City, multiple times on the evening of April 18, 2016 in the parking lot of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) located at 1515 Corlies Avenue in Neptune Township.
An 18-month-long joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Neptune Township Police Department identified Johnson, a/k/a “Little C,” as Basden’s killer.