NEWARK, N.J. – A South Carolina man who participated in the
sale of 17 firearms, including five assault rifles, today admitted his role in
a scheme to illegally sell weapons in New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito
announced.
Richard Lowman, 30, pleaded guilty before U.S. District
Court Judge Claire C. Cecchi in Newark federal court to an information charging
him with one count of conspiracy to engage in the unlicensed business of
dealing in firearms.
According to documents filed in this case and statements
made in court:
On six different dates between May 2017 and September 2017,
Lowman – sometimes accompanied by his uncle, Reginald Moultrie – met with an
individual in Newark for the purpose of selling firearms. Lowman personally
participated in the sale of an assault rifle on a Newark street in May 2017.
During a later transaction in August 2017, Lowman travelled from South Carolina
to New Jersey and transported multiple firearms across state lines. Ultimately,
six firearms were sold inside a residence in Newark on that occasion.
Seventeen firearms, including five assault rifles, were
illegally sold by Lowman and Moultrie over five months. Neither Lowman nor
Moultrie had a license to sell firearms.
Moultrie previously pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm after
having been convicted of a felony and is currently awaiting sentencing.
The charge of conspiracy to engage in unlicensed dealing of
firearms carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 5, 2019.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI,
under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark, and
officers of the Newark Police Department, under the direction of Department of
Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose, with the investigation leading to
today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney
Thomas S. Kearney of the U.S. Attorney’s Office National Security Unit in
Newark.
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