Aberdeen Woman Charged With Tampering In Old Bridge Drug Case

ABERDEEN, NJ — An Aberdeen woman has been charged by federal prosecutors with witness tampering and retaliating against a witness or informant, the U.S. Attorney's office announced Friday.

Kaitlyn R. Powers, 32, of Aberdeen, was charged with two counts of retaliating against a witness or informant and one count of witness tampering. Powers was expected to virtually appear in federal court later Friday (federal courts in New Jersey are still all virtual).

This is related to an ongoing FBI investigation into drug dealing, including crack cocaine, in Old Bridge:

As part of that FBI investigation, a confidential source working with law enforcement conducted multiple controlled purchases of illegal drugs, including crack cocaine, from Richard Edwards Jr., of Old Bridge, said the feds.

During one of the controlled buys, Powers distributed narcotics to the confidential source after the confidential source arranged to purchase the drugs from Edwards, said police.

On April 6, FBI agents arrested Edwards and one of his narcotics suppliers, Jamil J. Yasin of East Orange, and charged them both with distribution and possession of crack cocaine.

The next day, Powers confronted the confidential source in the parking lot of a convenience store in Cliffwood Beach and threatened, among other things, to have the confidential source killed in retaliation for Edwards’s and Yasin’s arrests, said the FBI.

Powers also threatened to kill the confidential source in the event she herself were to be charged with a federal crime.

Two days later, Powers again confronted the confidential source in the parking lot of a different commercial establishment in Cliffwood, and again threatened the confidential source for the confidential source helping law enforcement arrest Edwards and Yasin.

Powers is facing prison.