By: Richard L. Smith
A Jackson Township man has admitted to supplying the drugs that caused a Howell resident’s fatal overdose in 2023, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago.
During a court hearing before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Jill G. O’Malley, 40-year-old Paul R. Clites pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless manslaughter and third-degree distribution of a controlled dangerous substance.
Authorities said that on December 22, 2023, around 12:44 p.m., Howell Township Police responded to a home on Westbrook Road, where they found an adult male deceased in his bedroom.
An investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and Howell Police determined that Clites had been in contact with the victim before his death and had supplied the drugs that led to the fatal overdose.
Sentencing is scheduled for January 9, 2026.
Prosecutors intend to recommend eight years in state prison for the distribution charge and seven years for the manslaughter charge, with the latter subject to New Jersey’s No Early Release Act, requiring 85 percent of the sentence to be served before parole eligibility.