Prosecutor: Area Man Indicted on Manslaughter & Related Drug Charges in Connection with 2021 Fatal Overdose

A Monmouth County grand jury has returned a 37-count indictment against a man charged with being responsible for a fatal overdose in 2021, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago and Belmar Police Chief Tina Scott announced in a joint statement on Friday.

Robert M. Clayton, 39, was indicted on: one count of second-degree manslaughter, two counts of second-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance with the intent to distribute, 12 counts of second-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance (CDS) with the intent to distribute while on or within 500 feet of a public park, 12 counts of third-degree possession of controlled dangerous substance, and 10 counts of third-degree possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

A conviction for manslaughter carries a period of up to 10 years in New Jersey State Prison, subject to the provisions of the No Early Release Act (N.E.R.A.), meaning that he would have to serve 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole. The additional second-degree charges also carry up to 10 years in prison; the third-degree charges carry up to five years in prison.

The case background …

On Jan. 2, 2021 at 1:21 p.m., Belmar police were dispatched to the area of Third and River avenues for a caller reporting an overdose in progress in the front seat of his car.

The car was found on Fifth Avenue with the passenger-side door ajar and a man crawling out of the vehicle face-first. Upon contact with the officers, the man crawling out of the car yelled, “Narcan him!”

One of the responding Belmar officers got his first-aid equipment and administered two doses of Narcan to a man, later identified as Jonathan Amato, who was seated in the front passenger seat in a reclined position, unconscious and not breathing. Amato was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

An investigation involving Belmar police and Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office detectives revealed that Amato overdosed and died as a result of controlled dangerous substances that he ingested at Clayton’s home.

In a search of Clayton’s home, Belmar police recovered the following narcotics: 919 Xanax pills, 101 Carisoprodel pills, 26 wax folds of heroin, 2 bags of powder heroin, 3 bags of MDMA (Ecstasy), 97 doses of LSD, one bag of crystal meth, two bags of Ketamine, 111 Methadone pills, 51 Adderall pills, 62 Tramadol pills, two vials of liquid Xanax, 11 Oxycodone pills and numerous other small amounts of pills, in addition to used hypodermic needles, vacuum-sealed packaging bags, hundreds of unused wax folds, four scales with CDS residue, two whipped-cream-dispensers, and 200 whippet canisters. Thirty-four thumb memory drives, a computer and seven cell phones were also found.

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office