Patchogue Duo Caught In NJ Drug Bust Free On Bail

This article was written by Michael Sorrentino, editor of the Patchogue Patch. 

The two Patchogue men arrested on alleged cocaine distribution charges have been released from New Jersey’s Bergen County Jail on bail. However the Holbrook teen arrested with the men and two others remains behind bars despite a reduced bail. 

According to a representative from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, Corey Monath, 26, of Patchogue posted bail of $107,500 on July 15 and was released on July 17. Justin Clark, 19, of Patchogue, posted a $90,000 bail and was released July 17. Stephanie Banks, 19, of Holbrook, posted $60,000 bail (brought down from the $112,500 she was originally held on) Wednesday but has yet to be released. 

The other defendants in the case include Niel Lipple, 28, of Island Park, who posted a $107,500 bail and was also released July 17. The fifth defendant, Fernando Soto, 26, of Central Islip, has not yet posted bail.

A Bergen County Courthouse official who spoke with Patch said that none of the drug charges issued against four of the defendants — Monath, Clark, Banks and Soto — have been dropped nor downgraded. Information on Lipple’s current status was not immediately available.

As previously reported, police said the five individuals were found by Palisades Parkway Police parked illegally at a Sunoco gas station in Englewood Cliffs in a grey 2007 Honda around 3 a.m. on July 15.

According to police, a number of controlled substances ranging from cocaine, MDMA and “Molly” were found on all defendants except for Clark. Additionally a “sizable amount” of cocaine and other drug paraphernalia was stored in a duffle bag in the car’s trunk, according to police, which all five occupants denied was their own. Consequently, police say that all five were then charged for drug possession.