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TRENTON
–Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that a Glassboro man has pleaded
guilty to selling an assault firearm to
an undercover state trooper and possessing
other illegal weapons.
According
to Director Taylor, Horace Dixon, 50, of
Glassboro, pleaded guilty yesterday (Nov.
15) to unlawful disposition of an assault
firearm, unlawful possession of a machine
gun, and unlawful possession of a handgun
before Superior Court Judge Walter L. Marshall
Jr. in Gloucester County. Under the plea
agreement, the state will recommend that
Dixon be sentenced to 10 years in state
prison, including five years without possibility
of parole. Judge Marshall scheduled sentencing
for Dixon for Jan. 28.
Deputy
Attorney General Jill S. Mayer prosecuted
the case and took the guilty plea for the
Division of Criminal Justice Gangs &
Organized Crime Bureau. The charges were
contained in a May 20, 2010 state grand
jury indictment stemming from an investigation
by the New Jersey State Police - ATF Joint
Firearms Task Force, Glassboro Police Department
and Gloucester County Prosecutor’s
Office.
“By
putting gun traffickers such as this defendant
behind bars, we are eliminating a conduit
by which deadly assault weapons are reaching
the streets of New Jersey,” said Attorney
General Dow.
“Through
our historic partnership with the State
Police and ATF, we will continue to aggressively
investigate and prosecute gun traffickers
who sell illegal weapons to anyone willing
to pay their price,” said Director
Taylor.
“This
case involved a man whose home was an arsenal
of dangerous guns, and whose actions displayed
a complete lack of concern for how the illegal
firearms he sold were to be used,”
said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent
of the New Jersey State Police. “We
are proud of our part in this cooperative
investigation that began at the local level
and grew to include county, state and federal
agencies.”
Dixon
was arrested by state troopers on Aug. 13,
2009, in the parking lot of a bowling alley
on Route 47 in Glassboro as a result of
the joint investigation. Dixon was at the
location to sell guns to an undercover State
Police detective.
In
early July 2009, the Glassboro Police Department
had learned of two assault rifles for sale
and contacted the ATF. As a result, a State
Police detective acting undercover as part
of the Joint Firearms Task Force arranged
to purchase four weapons from Dixon. When
purchasing the guns, the undercover detective
indicated to Dixon that he planned to deface
the serial numbers on the guns and sell
them on the street.
On
July 17, 2009, Dixon sold the undercover
detective two guns for $3,000, a 7.62 x
39 mm FEG semi-automatic rifle and a .233-caliber
Norinco semi-automatic rifle. He included
three large-capacity ammunition magazines
for the Norinco rifle. On Aug. 7, 2009,
Dixon sold two more guns to the undercover
detective for $2,000, a .380-caliber Bersa
semi-automatic pistol and a .223-caliber
Romarm semi-automatic rifle. He included
a large-capacity magazine for the Romarm
rifle.
When
Dixon was arrested, police executed a search
warrant for his car and seized a .45-caliber
Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistol, a .380-caliber
Star semi-automatic pistol, a 12-gauge Shandong
1st Machine Works pump action shotgun, a
7.62 x 39 mm Romarm semi-automatic rifle,
and a large-capacity magazine for the Romarm
rifle. A search warrant executed at Dixon’s
home yielded a grenade launcher and more
than 200 guns, including a Deutsche Waffen
Munitionsfabriken water-cooled, belt-fed
machine gun, a .223-caliber Ruger semi-automatic
rifle, and a 7.62 x 39 mm Norinco semi-automatic
rifle.
Dixon
specifically pleaded guilty to selling the
FEG semi-automatic rifle to the detective,
and to possessing the Bersa pistol and the
Deutsche Waffen Munitionsfabriken machine
gun.
The
New Jersey State Police - ATF Joint Firearms
Task Force includes members of the Trenton
Police Department, Mercer County Sheriff’s
Office and Ocean County Prosecutor’s
Office.
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