Vineland man gets 7-year prison sentence

BRIDGETON - A Vineland man was sentenced to seven years in state prison Friday following a July 2014 drug arrest, the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office announced.

Brent Pettit, 39, of Vineland must serve three and a half years before being eligible for parole. The decision was handed down by Cumberland County Superior Court judge Cristen P. D'Arrigo.

Pettit was a backseat passenger in a car stopped by Vineland police for a traffic violation on W. Landis Avenue on July 14, 2014. Officers engaged Pettit in conversation and eventually found 20 bags of heroin in his waistband, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

Pettit was convicted by a jury on a third-degree possession of heroin charge on Dec. 17, 2015.