TRENTON
– Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa
announced that a Gloucester County man has
pleaded guilty to possession of assault rifles
and illegal ammunition magazines which were
seized when the New Jersey State Police discovered
a huge cache of weapons at his home in 2009.
Brian
Hinkel, 62, of Newfield, a former Vineland
police officer, pleaded guilty yesterday
afternoon before Superior Court Judge M.
Christine Allen-Jackson in Gloucester County
to four counts of third-degree possession
of an assault rifle and 21 counts of fourth-degree
possession of a prohibited device. The prohibited
devices were 21 illegal large-capacity ammunition
magazines. Under the plea agreement, the
State will recommend that Hinkel be sentenced
to five years in state prison.
Deputy Attorney General Jill Mayer prosecuted
the case and took the guilty plea for the
Division of Criminal Justice Gangs &
Organized Crime Bureau. The charges were
contained in an Aug. 30, 2010 indictment
stemming from an investigation by the New
Jersey State Police. Judge Allen-Jackson
scheduled sentencing for Hinkel for June
1.
Hinkel
was arrested on Jan. 26, 2009, when members
of the State Police went to his house to
question him in an unrelated investigation
and discovered numerous firearms in plain
view. The State Police executed a search
warrant and discovered approximately 258
guns, including the illegal assault rifles.
In
pleading guilty, Hinkel admitted to illegally
possessing 21 large-capacity magazines for
semi-automatic rifles, as well as the following
illegal assault weapons: (1) a Calico .22-caliber
long rifle semi-automatic carbine, (2) a
7.62x39mm Norinco semi-automatic rifle,
(3) a .223-caliber Colt semi-automatic rifle,
and (4) a .30-caliber National Ordnance
semi-automatic carbine.