CAMDEN, N.J. B Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives (ATF), assisted by investigators from local, county,
state and federal partner agencies, arrested multiple individuals throughout
South Jersey and Pennsylvania this morning for illegally selling and possessing
82 firearms in the Camden area over a 12-month period, U.S. Attorney Paul J.
Fishman announced.
Altogether, 10 men were charged, with eight arrested this
morning during predawn raids, and two others already in custody on unrelated
charges. Following six separate but coordinated ATF investigations that each
involved video and audio-recorded illegal firearms sales by the defendants to a
confidential informant and/or an undercover officer, the defendants were charged
with various firearms offenses, including dealing firearms without a license,
conspiring with others to deal firearms without a license, and selling stolen
firearms. The defendants are scheduled to make their initial court appearances
this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen M. Williams and U.S.
Magistrate Judge Ann Marie Donio in Camden federal court.
The guns ranged from semiautomatic pistols to sawed-off
shotguns, assault-style rifles and pistols with high-capacity magazines. Many
of the guns were stolen, straw-purchased, or had obliterated serial numbers. A
ballistics vest, alleged by one of the sellers to have been stolen from a
military base, was also sold to a cooperating informant.
“The great work of ATF and our other federal, state, and
local law enforcement partners, took 82 guns off the streets of Camden. As
alleged in the complaints, the defendants were willing to sell these weapons
without regard to how they would ultimately be used. This is one part of our
multi-facetted strategy to keep the people of Camden safe,” U.S. Attorney
Fishman said.
“The alleged charges and subsequent arrests announced today
send a direct message not to engage in the unlawful trafficking of firearms.
Unlicensed dealers of firearms are nothing more than greedy criminal merchants,
who seek profits at the expense of public safety, all too often with deadly
consequences,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge George Belsky. “ATF will
continue to identify, target, and arrest gun thieves, gun traffickers, and
straw buyers, who are responsible for starting the sequence of violence in our
neighborhoods by peddling guns to criminals. ATF remains dedicated to our core
mission of fighting violent crime with our State and local partners to keep our
homes, streets, and neighborhoods safe from firearms related violence.”
According to separate federal criminal complaints filed
today in Camden federal court:
Orlando Matos, 47,
of Camden, Robby Velazquez, 24, of Pennsauken, New Jersey and Orlando
Velazquez, 46, of Pennsauken, were each charged with one count of dealing
firearms without a license and one count of conspiring with others to deal
firearms without a license. Matos is also charged with one count of being a
felon in possession of a firearm. From March 2014 through February 2015, Matos
and Velazquez allegedly sold 30 firearms, including two sawed-off shotguns and
a high-capacity assault-style rifle. Several of the firearms were stolen or had
obliterated serial numbers.
David Potts, 43,
of Camden, and Darnel Johns, 47, of Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, are each
charged with one count of conspiring with others to deal firearms without a
license. Potts is also charged with one count of being a felon in possession of
a firearm. From September 2014 through December 2014, Potts and Johns allegedly
sold 22 firearms, including a sawed-off shotgun, three high-capacity
assault-style rifles (one with a 73-round drum magazine and one with five
30-round magazines) and a high-capacity assault-style pistol with a 30-round
magazine. Several of the guns were stolen, had obliterated serial numbers or
were straw-purchased.
Donavin Jackson, 20,
of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Dominique Lawrence, 27, of Camden, are each
charged with one count of dealing firearms without a license. From June 2014
through July 2014, Jackson and Lawrence allegedly sold six firearms, including
a high-capacity assault-style rifle and a high-capacity assault-style pistol.
One of the guns had an obliterated serial number and was straw-purchased.
Jayson Quinones,
21, of Camden, is charged with one count of dealing firearms without a license.
From September 2014 through January 2015, Quinones allegedly sold eight
firearms, including a .45 caliber pistol and a .357 Magnum revolver.
Dante Witcher, 45,
of Camden, is charged with one count of dealing firearms without a license, one
count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of selling a
stolen firearm. From September 2014 through November 2014, Witcher allegedly
sold 15 firearms, all of which were stolen from gun stores in North Carolina.
All fifteen firearms were new, high-caliber (9mm, .40, .44) handguns.
Elliot Nock, 31,
of Camden, is charged with one count of being a felon in possession of a
firearm. On Oct. 31, 2013, the defendant allegedly sold a high-capacity
assault-style pistol with a 30-round magazine.
Both the charge of conspiring to deal firearms without a
license and the related charges of dealing firearms without a license each
carry a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The charges of possessing a firearm while being a convicted felon and selling a
stolen firearm each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a
$250,000 fine.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the ATF,
under the direction of George P. Belsky, Jr.; Special Agent in Charge of ATF’s
Newark Field Division, and Essam Rabadi, Special Agent in Charge of ATF’s
Philadelphia Field Division, with the investigation. He additionally credited
special agents of the DEA, Maple Shade Resident Office, under the direction of
Special Agent in Charge Carl J. Kotowski; the ATF Charlotte Field Division
under the direction of Special Agent in Charge, Wayne L. Dixie, Jr.;
investigators with the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction
of Prosecutor Eva Marie Colalillo; detectives of the Camden County Police
Department – Metro, under the direction of Chief J. Scott Thomson; the Newark
Police Department’s Ballistics Laboratory; and the Bergen County Sheriff’s
Office Ballistics Laboratory, with the investigation. He additionally credited
the U.S. Marshals Service, under the direction of U.S. Marshal Juan Mattos,
Jr.; investigators under the Camden High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area; the
New Jersey State Police’s Metro South Unit, under the direction of
Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes; the New Jersey State Parole Board, under the
direction of Chairman James T. Plousis; the Camden County Sheriff’s Office,
under the direction of Sheriff Charles H. Billingham; and the Cherry Hill,
Pennsauken and Maple Shade Police Departments.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys
Howard Wiener (Potts and Johns), Steven J. D’Aguanno (Quinones), Patrick C.
Askin (Jackson and Lawrence), Justin C. Danilewitz (Matos, Robby and Orlando
Velazquez) and Sara Aliabadi (Witcher, Nock) of the U.S. Attorney’s Office
Criminal Division in Camden.
This case was coordinated through the Camden County Crime
Collaboration (“C-4”). Every federal, state and local law enforcement agency
and prosecutor’s office responsible for combating drug trafficking, gang
activity and violent crime in Camden has come together in one location to share
intelligence, develop strategies and support the investigative and
prosecutorial efforts of its partners. C-4 has merged the individual missions
of the various law enforcement agencies into a single strategic attack on drug
trafficking and drug-related violent crime. Such intense coordination greatly
enhances the law enforcement community’s ability to correctly identify and
successfully prosecute Camden’s most dangerous criminals.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaints are
merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until
proven guilty.
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