Philadelphia Man Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Distribute Cocaine

CAMDEN, N.J. - A Philadelphia man was sentenced to 97 months' imprisonment for conspiring to distribute cocaine, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced.

Marvin Murphy, 50, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on June 24, 2026 before Chief U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb. He also received 3 years' supervised release and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. Murphy was previously convicted on March 18, 2025 after a two-day bench trial before Chief Judge Bumb. Murphy was remanded into custody after the verdict.

According to documents filed in this case and evidence at trial:

From June 2021 through July 13, 2021, Murphy conspired with Carl Lee Holloway, Lavinston Lamar, and others to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. On June 23, 2021, Holloway traveled to San Diego, California, to meet with an undercover agent posing as a drug dealer. Holloway and the undercover agent discussed arranging a drug deal in New Jersey during which the undercover agent would deliver at least 10 kilograms of cocaine for Holloway and his associates. During the meeting, Holloway called Murphy, and the two proceeded to communicate about the drug deal during the subsequent weeks.

On July 13, 2021, Holloway, Murphy, and Lamar separately arrived at a hotel in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, each with bags containing U.S. currency collectively totaling over $340,000. They met with undercover agents inside a hotel room. They briefly inspected one of the kilograms of cocaine that undercover agents previously brought into the room. After the inspection, agents entered the room and arrested Holloway, Lamar, and Murphy.

Chief Judge Bumb previously sentenced Holloway to 120 months in prison after Holloway pleaded guilty to his involvement in the same conspiracy. Chief Judge Bumb also previously sentenced Lamar to 114 months in prison, which was later reduced to 100 months, after Lamar pleaded guilty to his involvement in the same conspiracy and to violating the conditions of his supervised release from a prior conviction for conspiring to distribute cocaine.

U.S. Attorney Frazer credited special agents with the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Spiros Karabinas in Newark and Acting Special Agent in Charge Kevin Murphy in San Diego; and the Mount Laurel Police, under the direction of Chief Timothy Hudnall, with the investigation leading to this sentence.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Bender of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Camden.

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Defense counsel: Margaret Grasso, Esq., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.