Toms River, NJ, man gets quarter century in prison for gun, terroristic threats

A Toms River man is headed to prison for a quarter of a century on terroristic threat and gun charges in connection to an incident during the summer of 2022.

On Friday, 38-year-old Raphael Powell was sentenced to 25 years in state prison after being found guilty earlier this year on the following charges:

• Possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose
• Being a certain person not to possess a firearm
• Unlawful possession of a handgun with a prior conviction for a No Early Release Act (NERA) offense
• Terroristic threats
• Possession of hollow nose bullets
• Possession of a large capacity magazine
• Possession of fentanyl

On the night of July 2nd, 2022, Toms River police officers were dispatched to assist a man who had just been assaulted.

Responding Officers met with the victim, who advised that he was entering a residence on Rory Road when a male approached him and asked him what he was doing in the area. The male suspect then punched the victim in the face and removed a handgun from his waistband. The male suspect brandished the handgun and then threatened to shoot and kill the victim. Another male then appeared at the scene and the victim was able to leave the area.

An investigation determined that Powell was the individual who struck and threatened the victim with the gun.

Officers located Powell outside of his home in Toms River early the next day and he was taken into custody without incident.

Powell was searched incident to his arrest, and found to be in possession of a stolen handgun loaded with 17 rounds of hollow nose bullets. Powell was also found to be in possession of 30 wax folds of Fentanyl at the time of his arrest.

Powell has been held in the Ocean County Jail since his arrest.

He will be required to serve at least 13 ½ years of his term before becoming eligible for parole.