45-year sentence for Neptune man convicted of 2011 murder

The Neptune Township 23-year-old convicted of gunning down his friend in cold blood outside an Asbury Park apartment complex in 2011, heads to prison, possibly for nearly twice as long as he's lived so far.

Thaddeus Reevey was sentenced to 45 years in prison for the death of Eric Freeman, by Monmouth Superior Court Judge Thomas F. Scully in Freehold Tuesday, according to information from the office of County Prosecutor Chris Gramiccioni.

The sentence applies to the first-degree murder charge for which Reevey was convicted after a three-week trial in March of this year.

Under terms of New Jersey's No Early Release Law, Reevey is required to serve 85 percent of the term, or just over 38 years, before parole eligibility.

Scully also applied a concurrent six-year term for a weapons-possession charge, which includes three-and-a-half-years of parole ineligibility under the Graves Act.

Eric Freeman died during hospitalization within 40 minutes of the time that investigators surmised the shooting to have taken place outside the Asbury Park Village complex. Prosecutors presented evidence to show that Reevey wielded the gun as he approached Freeman, then shot three times at close range.

The case was presented in court by Assistant County Prosecutor Christopher J. Decker, who heads the Major Crimes Bureau. Reevey was represented by Freehold attorney Allison Friedman.