A former Brick Township resident who fled before trial was sentenced to 32 years in state prison, with 12 years of parole ineligibility, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

Prosecutors said Jason Bacon, 43, was sentenced April 17 to consecutive prison terms for maintaining a controlled dangerous substance facility, eight years for possession of a firearm during a controlled dangerous substance offense and eight years for financial facilitation.

The case stemmed from an investigation that began in December 2017 after police in Clayton, Gloucester County, discovered a large greenhouse behind a vacant house on Delsea Drive. Investigators found the property was using large amounts of water and electricity and had received freight deliveries tied to illegal marijuana cultivation, according to prosecutors.

Search warrants executed April 26, 2018, at properties in Clayton and Brick Township led to the seizure of more than 25 pounds of marijuana, more than five pounds of hashish and hashish products, marijuana plants, drug cultivation paraphernalia and a loaded .25-caliber handgun, prosecutors said. Bacon was arrested at the Brick Township property.

A review of bank records later found that Bacon deposited more than $400,000 in alleged illegal drug proceeds between 2013 and 2018 and failed to pay income tax on that income, authorities said.

Bacon’s trial began Jan. 14, 2025, but he did not appear and was tried in absentia. A jury found him guilty on Jan. 30, 2025.

He was arrested in Mexico on Jan. 15, 2026, by the US Marshals Task Force, extradited to New Jersey on Feb. 4 and held in the Ocean County Jail until sentencing.