New Jersey man sentenced to 10 years in prison for illegally selling firearms
NEWARK, N.J. — A Hudson County man was sentenced in a New Jersey federal court Tuesday to 120 months in prison for selling 33 firearms to a confidential informant.
This sentencing resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Jersey City Police Department.
Bernardo Guzman, 27, of Jersey City, previously pleaded guilty on April 7, 2015, to possessing firearms while being a previously convicted felon.
“The court's sentence clearly reflects the seriousness of this crime,” said Kevin Kelly, acting special agent in charge of HSI Newark. “By working together on the Border Enforcement Security Task Force, we are able to multiply our resources and build on our commitment to fight these violent criminals on a local and national level.”
According to court documents, Guzman admitted that on Nov. 14, 2013, he met with an individual in the parking lot of a grocery store in Fort Lee, New Jersey, to illegally sell three handguns. Guzman also admitted that from June 2013 through February 2014, he sold approximately 33 firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition to a confidential informant. The firearms sold by Guzman consisted of semiautomatic weapons, sawed-off shotguns, assault-style rifles and firearms with high-capacity magazines. Some of the firearms had obliterated serial numbers. All of the weapons and ammunition are now in the custody of law enforcement.
In addition to the prison term, Guzman was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
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