A state Superior Court judge sentenced a drug dealer to a work-release program instead of the three-year state prison sentence sought by prosecutors as part of a plea deal.

Warren County Prosecutor Thomas S. Ferguson declined to comment beyond a news release his office issued Monday about the decision by Judge Ann. R. Bartlett. The dealer sold more than 700 bags of heroin and was characterized by another judge as a danger to the community, according to the release.



The release says Bartlett granted Taisha Rivera, 31, of Newark, entrance to the two-day-a-week work program.

The sentence handed down Friday followed Rivera's rejection, before a different judge, from enrollment in Warren County's drug court probation program.

That judge, who is unidentified in the release and whom Ferguson declined to name Tuesday, ruled at a March 18 appeal hearing Rivera "played a role in a large-scale drug distribution organization that renders her a significant danger to the community if placed on probation."

Bartlett did not return a phone call seeking comment. The state Superior Court Operations Division in Belvidere also did not return a call seeking comment.

Rivera admitted at a guilty plea hearing July 7 to selling more than 100 bags of heroin June 9, 2010, to an undercover police officer in Hackettstown. The $500 transaction netted Rivera a $140 profit, the release states. She also admitted to selling 602 bags of heroin to the same officer June 11, 2010, in Independence Township for $2,500, earning a profit of $800, according to the release.

Drug court can last up to five years, requires participants to be clean for one year, gain full-time employment or be enrolled in school and pay off probation fees. Participants must meet weekly with a drug court judge.

Bartlett instead sentenced Rivera to 120 days in the Corrections Labor Assistance Program, a twice-weekly Warren County jail-based program that allows offenders to avoid jail time while participating in a work program, the release states.

As part of the program, Rivera reports to the jail at 7 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays and returns home at 3 p.m. each day.

A phone number listed for Rivera was disconnected.