TRENTON – A North Brunswick man was sentenced to 11 years in state prison for illegally transporting handguns into New Jersey for unlawful sale, according to Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin.
The conviction stems from an investigation by the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that led to the seizure of five handguns and an assault rifle transported to New Jersey from Georgia, according to a press release through the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General on Sept. 27.
Barrett R. Griffin III, 33, was sentenced to an aggregate term of 11 years in prison, including a period of 6.8 years of parole ineligibility, in a hearing before Superior Court Judge Mark P. Tarantino in Burlington County on Sept. 9. Griffin pleaded guilty on July 18 to second-degree transporting firearms into the state for unlawful sale or transfer and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, according to the press release.
“Keeping illegal weapons out of our state and off our streets is paramount to public safety,” Platkin said. “We are aggressively targeting those responsible for the proliferation of guns and gun violence in our communities, and that includes gun traffickers who illegally transport weapons into our state and put them in the hands of criminals.”
Director Pearl Minato, of the Division of Criminal Justice said the prison sentence “sends a clear message that we have zero tolerance for gun trafficking in New Jersey.
“We will continue to work with law enforcement partners throughout New Jersey and beyond to stop the illegal flow of firearms into our state and hold accountable all those who profit from it,” she said.
Griffin was apprehended earlier this year following an investigation by NJSP and the ATF. During the course of the investigation, a motor vehicle stop was made on the car Griffin was driving on the New Jersey Turnpike in Mount Laurel, Burlington County, on Feb. 7. Following a search of the vehicle, detectives seized five handguns, one assault rifle, and four large capacity ammunition magazines from the vehicle’s trunk, according to the press release.
