Cumberland County Man Admits Participating in Straw Purchases to Obtain Firearms
CAMDEN, N.J. – A Cumberland County, New Jersey, man with a prior felony conviction today admitted participating in straw purchases to obtain firearms that he was not permitted to purchase, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.
Darick Nollett, 32, of Heislerville, New Jersey, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp to an information charging him with one count of aiding and abetting the making of a false statement during the purchase of a firearm.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Nollett was not legally permitted to purchase firearms because of a 2015 felony conviction. In 2018 and 2019, Nollett caused other individuals to purchase five firearms for him. These individuals falsely stated on U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Firearm Transaction Records that they were the actual buyer/transferee of the firearm when, in fact, Nollett was the actual buyer/transferee. In 2020, Nollett ordered “fuel filters” from China that he intended to modify and use as firearms silencers. Law enforcement officers executing a court-authorized search warrant of Nollett’s residence in May 2020 recovered more than 30 firearms, as well as ammunition and firearm accessories. Nollett will surrender these firearms, ammunition, and accessories as a result of today’s guilty plea.
The charge of aiding and abetting the making of a false statement during the purchase of a firearm carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for April 5, 2022.
Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jason J. Molina in Newark;special agents of the ATF Newark Field Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey L. Matthews; postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Philadelphia Division, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood; officers of the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Superintendent Col. Patrick J. Callahan; and the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel A. Friedman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Camden.
