February 10, 2021
By: Tyler Eckel
KEYPORT (MONMOUTH)– A Keyport man was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for illegally possessing an assault rifle, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.
Ahmed A-Hady, 36, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Katharine S. Hayden to an information charging him with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Judge Hayden imposed the sentence by videoconference today.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On Dec. 10, 2019, there was a mass shooting in Jersey City in which a Jersey City Police Officer and three civilians were shot and killed by a male (Individual 1) and a female (Individual 2). After the shooting, law enforcement recovered a handwritten note from Individual 1’s right rear pants pocket that contained a telephone number ending in 4115 and a Keyport, New Jersey, address. Law enforcement also recovered several weapons possessed by Individuals 1 and 2, including an AR-15 rifle.
FBI agents determined that the phone number ending in 4115 contained on the note belonged to A-Hady. Law enforcement also determined that the Keyport address listed on the note was a storefront for a pawn shop. On the evening of Dec. 13, 2019, law enforcement officers traveled to the pawnshop and interviewed A-Hady and two of his relatives.
Law enforcement officers lawfully searched both the pawnshop and A-Hady’s private residence and recovered multiple rifles, handguns, and one shotgun. During the searches of the pawnshop and A-Hady’s private residence, law enforcement also recovered over 400 rounds of ammunition, including a large number of hollow point bullets.
One of the weapons recovered from the pawnshop was a Sig Sauer .22 caliber rifle capable of accepting a large capacity magazine. Records showed that A-Hady purchased this rifle in Florida on Oct. 23, 2012, approximately five months after A-Hady was convicted in New Jersey Superior Court of a crime that was punishable by a term of imprisonment of more than one year.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Hayden sentenced A-Hady to three years of supervised release. A-Hady forfeited his interest, if any, in the firearms recovered during the search of the pawnshop.
Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited special agents of the FBI and task force officers of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. in Newark; special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Charlie J. Patterson in Newark; the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General, under the direction of Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal; and the N.J. State Police, under the direction of Col. Patrick J. Callahan, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. Acting U.S. Attorney Honig also thanked the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Esther Suarez, and the Jersey City Police Department, under the direction of Director James Shea, for their assistance.
The government is represented by Ronnell Wilson, Chief of the National Security Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dean C. Sovolos and Thomas S. Kearney, of the National Security Unit.
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