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TRENTON
- Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal
Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced
that the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs
& Organized Crime Bureau obtained an
indictment today charging two men with illegally
trafficking guns in and around Camden.
According
to Director Taylor, the 13-count state grand
jury indictment charges Jose Morales, 46,
of Pennsauken, and Jose Gutierrez, 28, of
Camden, now an inmate at Southern State
Correctional Facility, with numerous weapons
offenses. An investigation by the Division
of Criminal Justice, Camden City Police
Department and Camden County Prosecutor’s
Office revealed that Gutierrez was allegedly
acting as a weapons supplier, acquiring
illegal guns that he and Morales allegedly
sold on the streets of Camden and surrounding
municipalities.
During
the course of the investigation, undercover
investigators allegedly purchased three
guns from the defendants: (1) a .22-caliber
Smith & Wesson semi-automatic handgun,
allegedly sold by Morales on Nov. 6, 2009
in Camden; (2) a .45-caliber Ruger semi-automatic
pistol, allegedly sold by Morales and Gutierrez
on Aug. 12, 2010 in Pennsauken; and (3)
a .300-caliber Weatherby Model Mark V rifle,
allegedly sold by Morales and Gutierrez
on Aug. 18, 2010 in Camden.
Morales
was charged with unlawful possession of
a handgun (2nd degree, Smith & Wesson),
unlawful disposition of a firearm (4th degree,
Smith & Wesson), unlawful possession
of a handgun, (2nd degree, Ruger), unlawful
disposition of a firearm (4th degree, Ruger),
unlawful possession of a rifle (3rd degree,
Weatherby), unlawful disposition of a firearm
(4th degree, Weatherby), and three counts
of possession of a weapon by a convicted
felon (2nd degree, one for each of the three
guns). Gutierrez was charged with unlawful
possession of a handgun (2nd degree, Ruger),
unlawful disposition of a firearm (4th degree,
Ruger), unlawful possession of a rifle (3rd
degree, Weatherby), unlawful disposition
of a firearm (4th degree, Weatherby), and
two counts of possession of a weapon by
a convicted felon (2nd degree, Ruger &
Weatherby).
Deputy
Attorney General Jill S. Mayer presented
the case to the state grand jury. She was
assigned to the case with Detective Andrea
Salvatini of the Division of Criminal Justice
Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. Attorney
General Dow thanked the Camden City Police
Department and the Camden County Prosecutor’s
Office for their work on the investigation.
Morales and Gutierrez would face sentences
of five to 10 years in prison if convicted
of the second-degree weapons offenses, including
five years of parole ineligibility on the
charges of possession of a weapon as a convicted
felon. The indictment is merely an accusation
and the defendants are presumed innocent
until proven guilty.
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