January 28, 2011
Office of The Attorney General
– Paula T. Dow, Attorney General
Division of Criminal Justice
– Stephen J. Taylor, Director
Media Inquiries-
Peter Aseltine
609-292-4791
Citizen Inquiries-
609-292-4925
Glassboro Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Selling Assault Weapon to Undercover New Jersey State Trooper
TRENTON –Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that a Glassboro man was sentenced to prison today for selling an assault firearm to an undercover state trooper and possessing other illegal weapons.
According to Director Taylor, Horace Dixon, 50, of Glassboro, was sentenced to 10 years in state prison, including five years without possibility of parole, by Superior Court Judge Walter L. Marshall Jr. in Gloucester County. Dixon pleaded guilty on Nov. 15 to unlawful disposition of an assault firearm, unlawful possession of a machine gun, and unlawful possession of a handgun.
Deputy Attorney General Jill S. Mayer prosecuted the case and handled the sentencing for the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. The charges were contained in a May 20, 2010 state grand jury indictment obtained by the Division of Criminal Justice as a result of an investigation by the New Jersey State Police – ATF Joint Firearms Task Force, Glassboro Police Department and Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office.
“Our historic partnership with the New Jersey State Police and ATF was designed to capture precisely this type of dangerous gun trafficker, whose profit motive translated into a willingness to place illegal assault weapons indiscriminately into the hands of criminals,” said Attorney General Dow.
“Through prosecutions such as this one, we will aggressively target those responsible for the proliferation of deadly firepower on our streets,” said Director Taylor.
“This case involved a man whose home was an arsenal of dangerous guns, and whose actions displayed a complete lack of concern for how the illegal firearms he sold were to be used,” said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “We are proud of our part in this cooperative investigation that began at the local level and grew to include county, state and federal agencies.”
Dixon was arrested by state troopers on Aug. 13, 2009, in the parking lot of a bowling alley on Route 47 in Glassboro as a result of the joint investigation. Dixon was at the location to sell guns to an undercover State Police detective.
In early July 2009, the Glassboro Police Department had learned of two assault rifles for sale and contacted the ATF. As a result, a State Police detective acting undercover as part of the Joint Firearms Task Force arranged to purchase four weapons from Dixon. When purchasing the guns, the undercover detective indicated to Dixon that he planned to deface the serial numbers on the guns and sell them on the street.
On July 17, 2009, Dixon sold the undercover detective two guns for $3,000, a 7.62 x 39 mm FEG semi-automatic rifle and a .233-caliber Norinco semi-automatic rifle. He included three large-capacity ammunition magazines for the Norinco rifle. On Aug. 7, 2009, Dixon sold two more guns to the undercover detective for $2,000, a .380-caliber Bersa semi-automatic pistol and a .223-caliber Romarm semi-automatic rifle. He included a large-capacity magazine for the Romarm rifle.
When Dixon was arrested, police executed a search warrant for his car and seized a .45-caliber Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistol, a .380-caliber Star semi-automatic pistol, a 12-gauge Shandong 1st Machine Works pump action shotgun, a 7.62 x 39 mm Romarm semi-automatic rifle, and a large-capacity magazine for the Romarm rifle. A search warrant executed at Dixon’s home yielded a grenade launcher and more than 200 guns, including a Deutsche Waffen Munitionsfabriken water-cooled, belt-fed machine gun, a .223-caliber Ruger semi-automatic rifle, and a 7.62 x 39 mm Norinco semi-automatic rifle.
Dixon specifically pleaded guilty to selling the FEG semi-automatic rifle to the detective, and to possessing the Bersa pistol and the Deutsche Waffen Munitionsfabriken machine gun.
The New Jersey State Police – ATF Joint Firearms Task Force includes members of the Trenton Police Department, Mercer County Sheriff’s Office and Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
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